US allows 7,000 Syrian immigrants to stay as civil war rages

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Thousands of Syrians will be permitted to stay in the United States who have continuously resided in the United States since October 2016 under the country's Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program.

“It is clear that the conditions upon which Syria’s designation was based continue to exist, therefore an extension is warranted under the statute. We will continue to determine each country’s TPS status on a country-by-country basis," stated Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen on Wednesday night.

The "ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary conditions" in Syria were the impetus for Syrians to remain with the protected status, while many more Latinos will not have their protected status extended.

The extension is for 18 months and permits current Syrian TPS beneficiaries to remain in the United States with work authorization through September 30, 2019.

Most of the roughly 86,000 Syrians living in the United States live in California, Texas, and Michigan.

The issue has been contentious within the US administration. President Donald Trump ran on and has tried to implement many anti-immigration programs, such as ending former President Barack Obama DACA or "Dreamer" policy that allowed a path hood to citizenship for the children of people who illegally entered the country.

Trump's administration has also been challenged after his 2017 executive order effectively banning visas for seven Muslim-majority countries. Iraq was later omitted from the list after it made concessions, including agreeing to repatriate immigrants convicted of felonies, although their deportations are currently being litigated.

US Vice President Mike Pence strongly advocated for State Department aid funds (USAID) to be permitted to go directly to religious NGOs in the 2018. He has claimed the funds could more directly help northern Iraq and Syria's minority communities.

The US created Temporary Protected Status in 1990 to provide a safe haven from countries affected by earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, war and other disasters, and it currently shields several hundred thousand people from 10 countries.

The Syrian conflict began in 2011. The civil war was complicated by the rise of ISIS in 2014. Half of all Syrians have been displaced from their homes at one time or another with at least 400,000 being killed. Delivery of humanitarian aid and forced displacement remains a problem in many parts of the country.