President Joe Biden’s administration is extending “temporary” amnesty to more than 15,000 Ethiopian nationals living in the United States, giving them free access to secure work permits and hold American jobs.
Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Friday that it is re-designating and extending a temporary amnesty program to thousands of illegal Ethiopians residing in the U.S. who would otherwise face deportation.
Department Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the “temporary Protected Status provides individuals already present in the United States with protection from removal when conditions in their home country prevent their safe return.”
DHS cited several concerning conditions Ethiopia is currently facing, such as droughts, floods, armed conflict, and disease outbreaks as a way to justify allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S.
“That is the situation facing Ethiopians who arrived here on or before April 11 of this year. We are granting them protection through this temporary form of humanitarian relief that the law provides,” Mayorkas statement continued.
The Biden official also announced that there will be a “Special Student Relief” for the tens of thousands of Ethiopians living in the U.S. under F-1 student visas.
“[The program will be extended to] eligible students [who] may request employment authorization, work an increased number of hours while school is in session, and reduce their course load while continuing to maintain F-1 status through the TPS designation period,” he said.
A study from the Pew Research Center found that nearly 1.2 million foreign nationals will receive temporary Protected Status, including illegal immigrants from Afghanistan, Burma, Cameroon, Ukraine, and Venezuela.
Last year, the president extended the program to more than a quarter of a million Venezuelans. Following that, during Biden’s first year in office, half a million Venezuelans were granted a temporary protected status.
Since the beginning of Biden’s term, the foreign-born population has skyrocketed by 6.4 million, according to a Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) study.