FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 21, 2023
Contact: Assefash Makonnen, Communications Manager, African Communities Together
assefash@africans.us | (646) 629-7131
IMMIGRANT RIGHTS GROUPS CALL ON BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO PROTECT SUDANESE LIVING IN THE US
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the fighting in Sudan raged on with no end in sight, African Communities Together (ACT), Communities United for Status and Protection (CUSP), and National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC) sent a letter to the administration expressing the continued need for Sudanese living in the US to be protected and urging Secretary Mayorkas to extend and redesignate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Sudan for 18 months. Escalating violence, indiscriminate bombing, and heavy weapon attacks have been reported in Khartoum and other cities as a result of conflict between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group. Attacks against civilians intensified for the seventh day, and casualties have risen to over 330 deaths and over 3,200 civilians injured.
A TPS extension and redesignation would provide life-saving protection to Sudanese with non-immigrant status in the United States, including undocumented immigrants, who cannot safely return to their home country at this time. As we witnessed in March 2022, the Biden administration rightly and swiftly designated TPS for Ukraine at the onset of its war with Russia. This should be no different. The Biden administration must extend the same effort and sense of urgency towards our Sudanese community members who are helplessly watching their families in Sudan torn apart.
“Our hearts break for the people of Sudan,” said Diana Konaté, Policy Director at African Communities Together, “The devastating events unfolding in the country highlight the continued need for the US to provide protection to Sudanese in the U.S. DHS should not only extend the current TPS designation when it expires in October, but also expand eligibility to Sudanese who arrived in the U.S. after March 1, 2022. However, Sudanese TPS holders need more than just temporary protection. Congress must deliver permanent status to this population of TPS holders who have been living in and contributing to the U.S. for decades.”
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About African Communities Together
African Communities Together is an organization of African immigrants fighting for civil rights, opportunity, and a better life for African families in the U.S. and worldwide. ACT connects African immigrants to critical services, helps Africans develop as leaders, and organizes African immigrant communities on the issues that matter.