Biden administration extends program allowing Syrians to seek temporary refuge in US

The Biden administration Friday issued an order to allow thousands of Syrian nationals to stay in the United States for at least another year and a half due to the ongoing civil war and danger faced by the Assad regime.

Syria’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation was extended for another 18 months, acting Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske announced in a statement.

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According to his statement, more than 6,700 eligible Syrians will benefit from the action, which now allows them to seek refuge in the US until September 2022.

Another 1,800 individuals can file applications to become eligible for this status, Pekoske added.

The program allows people without nationality, but last lived in Syria, to apply.

The TPS designation is issued when a country is in a state of armed conflict or environmental disaster.

“The Syrian civil war continues to demonstrate deliberate targeting of civilians, the use of chemical weapons and irregular warfare tactics, and 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,” Pekoske said.

Due to the circumstances, Syrians cannot safely return to their homeland, he said.

Syria’s TPS designation was first issued in March 2012, nearly a year after the outbreak of the Syrian war.

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