ILAP Welcomes Temporary Protected Status Designation for Ethiopia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 21, 2022 
CONTACT: Lisa Parisio, lparisio@ilapmaine.org  

PORTLAND, ME – ILAP welcomes the Department of Homeland Security’s announcement that it is designating Ethiopia for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months. This long-overdue, life-saving protection will safeguard an estimated 30,000 Ethiopians in the United States from return to escalating war, ethnic cleansing, weaponization of humanitarian aid, human rights violations, severe drought, and other dangerous conditions. Last year, Ethiopia set a global record with the most people ever displaced within a country in a single year – 5.1 million.  

In September, ILAP joined more than 100 organizations across the country in calling on the Biden administration to immediately designate TPS for Ethiopia given the impossibility of safe return. This letter was part of sustained advocacy led by the Ethiopian Community Development Council, Temporary Protected Status – Deferred Enforced Departure Administrative Advocacy Coalition, and others for more than a year.  
Sue Roche, ILAP’s Executive Director said: “We commend the Biden administration for putting in place this vital protection for Ethiopians in the United States as conditions in Ethiopia continue to deteriorate. TPS is a tool that administrations have at their fingertips to safeguard human life, keep families together, and to promote a foreign policy rooted in upholding human rights.”  

ILAP has been dismayed at the delay in this designation, joining our partners in pointing out that Congress’ intent in creating TPS is for it to be used swiftly in the face of humanitarian disaster. Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security properly and effectively used TPS for Ukraine, designating the protection in a matter of days after war erupted. Slow walking designations for Black majority countries calls into question racial disparity in TPS decision making and ILAP calls on current and future administrations to use TPS broadly and without delay to safeguard the lives of Black immigrants. ILAP has joined the ongoing calls for new TPS designations for Mauritania, Mali, as well as Guatemala.  

ILAP warns Ethiopians in Maine that the application for TPS is not yet open and to beware of people who may seek to take advantage of immigrants. ILAP will share more information on our website (www.ilapmaine.org) and social media when the Department of Homeland Security officially opens the registration process. 

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