Reed: Let Liberians stay in US

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) applauded President Obama’s decision to extend visas to Liberian immigrants for two years.

The administration’s decision comes as Liberia deals with an Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 2,000 people.

{mosads}“Many Liberians living here are already coping with tragic news of family members and friends affected by the Ebola epidemic in their home country, and it would have been truly inhumane to tear these families apart here in the U.S. and send more individuals into one of the hardest-hit areas of this disaster,” Reed said.

Before Congress left for the midterm elections, it passed a short-term spending bill that included more than $80 million to help West Africa deal with the epidemic, which the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has estimated will infect more than 1 million people by the end of the year. 

“Liberia is ill-equipped to contain this deadly outbreak on its own, and the U.S. needs to be a strong partner and help rally the international community to expand capacity to deliver basic health services in the region,” Reed said.

The administration’s decision allows Liberians living in the United States to stay another 24 months, until Oct. 1, 2016.

Reed has introduce the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act, which would grant permanent U.S. residency to qualifying Liberians that came to the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s to escape civil war.