Biden administration grants Syrians relief from deportation

The move affects more than 6,700 refugees currently living in the country

US President Joe Biden delivers remarks during a briefing in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, January 29, 2021. EPA

The US Department of Homeland Security has extended and redesignated Syria’s Temporary Protected Status. The move ensures that more than 6,700 Syrians currently living in the US can remain in the country.

“It’s a welcome decision,” said Abed Ayoub, legal and policy director at the American-Arab Anti-discrimination Committee.

“It shows there is a new approach to immigration in the White House.”

The Trump administration had also extended this status to Syrians who arrived before 2016, but more than 1,800 Syrians who arrived after 2016 have been in limbo.

“The Trump administration's decision not to re-designate made no sense,” said Mr Ayoub.

The Syrian civil war has raged for almost 10 years. Millions of Syrians have been displaced by the brutal fighting, creating one of the world’s largest refugee populations.

Only a tiny fraction of Syrians who fled the war have ended up in the US. Under former president Trump’s so-called Muslim ban, Syrians were denied visas to the country.

By extending Syria's Temporary Protected Status and redesignating it, the Biden administration has acknowledged the dire situation that continues to persist in the country.

“The Syrian civil war continues to demonstrate deliberate targeting of civilians, the use of chemical weapons and irregular warfare tactics, and the use of child soldiers. The war has also caused the sustained need for humanitarian assistance, an increase in refugees and displaced people, food insecurity, limited access to water and medical care, and large-scale destruction of Syria’s infrastructure. These conditions prevent Syrian nationals from safely returning,” said a Department of Homeland Security press release.

“I think to see this within the first week and a half is good and it shows good faith efforts, especially for a very vulnerable population that has been here and now they get registered under this status and have the option of working here legally and remaining here legally for a temporary period of time,” said Jomana Qaddour, a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank.

Mr Biden rescinded the Muslim ban on his first day in office, the first of many changes he has promised to make to America's immigration policies.