A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

statistics/publications/YrBk07RA.shtm (last
visited Dec. 29, 2008); u.s. dePt. of justiCe, 1998
stAtistiCAl yeArbook of tHe immigrAtion &
nAturAlizAtion serviCe 97 (2000) (listing refugee
arrivals from Liberia for fiscal years 1992 to 1997
as 2,537, Table 25), http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/
assets/statistics/yearbook/1998/1998yb.pdf; u.s.
dePt. of justiCe, seCond trienniAl rePort on
immigrAtion 160 (listing refugee arrivals from
Liberia for fiscal years 1983 to 1991 as 6), http://
www.uscis.gov/files/article/2ndfullTriReport.pdf
(last visited Jan.5, 2009).
299 David A. Martin, A New Era for U.S. Refugee
Resettlement, 36 Colum. HumAn rigHts l. rev. 299,
304-311 (2005).
300 Id. at 307.
301 Id. at 309.
302 Id. at 309-10.
303 The 1980 Refugee Act established the U.S.’ current
refugee resettlement system. The Refugee Act
codifies the definition of a “refugee” found in the
1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
See Convention relating to the Status of Refugees art.
1, 189 U.N.T.S. 150, entered into force Apr. 22, 1954,
as amended by the Protocol Relating to the Status
of Refugees art. 1, 2, 606 U.N.T.S. 267, entered
into force Oct. 4, 1967. Those seeking resettlement
as refugees, therefore, must establish that they are
outside their country of nationality, that they have a
well-founded fear of persecution on account of race,
religion, nationality, membership in a particular
social group, or political opinion, and that they are
not barred from refugee protection due to criminal,
persecutory, or terrorist conduct. 8 U.S.C. §1101(42)
(2008). The refugee’s spouse and minor, unmarried
children may accompany or follow to join the refugee
without establishing that they qualify as a refugee in
their own right, so long as they are not barred from
protection. 8 U.S.C. §1157(c)(2)(A)-(B) (2008).
304 dAvid A. mArtin, tHe united stAtes refugee
Admissions ProgrAm: reforms for A new erA of
refugee resettlement 39 (2005).
305 TRC Diaspora Statement Rec. 1408 (noting also that
it took ten years for her asylum status to be granted,
and another five or six years until she was granted
her green card).
306 See supra note 298.
385
Chapter Thirteen
307 TRC Diaspora Statement Rec. 1682.
308 See U.S. Dept. of Justice, Asylum Statistics by
Nationality 1997-2007, http://www.usdoj.gov/
eoir/efoia/foiafreq.htm (last visited Dec. 29, 2008).
Defensive asylum statistics predating 1997 were not
readily available.
309 Syracuse Univ. Transactional Records Access
Clearinghouse, Asylum Denial Rates by Nationality:
FY 1994 - FY 1999, http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/
reports/160/include/nat_denial_9499.html (last
visited Dec. 29, 2008).
310 TRC Diaspora Statement Rec. 1743.
311 TRC Diaspora Statement Rec. 1412.
312 Press Release, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Immigration
and Naturalization Service, Asylum Reform: 5
Years Later: Backlog Reduced and Number of Non-
Meritorious Claims Drops (Feb. 1, 2000), http://
www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/Asylum.pdf.
313 TRC Diaspora Statement Rec. 1410.
314 8 U.S.C. §1158(b)(3).
315 TRC Diaspora Statement Rec. 1203.
316 TRC Diaspora Statement Rec. 1552.
317 Syracuse Univ. Transactional Records Access
Clearinghouse, supra note 309.
318 See infra text accompanying notes 322-330.
319 Press Release, White House, Deferred Enforced
Departure for Liberians (March 20, 2009)
[hereinafter Press Release, White House, Deferred
Enforced Departure], http://www.whitehouse.
gov/the_press_office/Presidential-Memorandum-
Regarding-Deferred-Enforced-Departure-for-
Liberians/.
320 See 8 U.S.C. §1231(a)(2008) (setting forth the
authority of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
to arrest, detain and deport those aliens with final
orders of removal).
321 TRC Diaspora Statement Rec. 1652.
322 TRC Diaspora Statement Rec. 1682.
323 Immigration Act of 1990 (IMPACT), Pub. L. No.
101-649, 104 Stat. 4978 (1990).
324 There have been several “re-designations” of TPS,
allowing Liberians who had arrived more recently to
register for the status.
325 Press Release, White House, Deferred Enforced
Departure, supra note 319. TPS exclusions include