The Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF) program, enacted in December 2019, allows Liberian nationals who have been living in the United States since November 20, 2014 to apply for their green card and become Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs). This is the first piece of legislation in decades that creates a path to citizenship for undocumented community members, and one of the only pieces of legislation to directly affect Black immigrants. However, the deadline for individuals to apply for the program is quickly approaching on December 20, 2021 with mounting concerns that applications are being processed slowly and important information not reaching Liberian community members.
It is vital that we raise our voices and urge Members of Congress to eliminate the December 20, 2021 deadline for the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF) program so that more Liberians can apply and USCIS has time to fairly process applications.
CONTACT YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
Click “Send Email” or “Call Me” on the right to contact your 2 Senators and 1 Representative!
Please make sure you personalize the text in brackets.
Sample Script: “I’m your constituent from [CITY/TOWN], and [as a person of faith/as a refugee/as an immigrant], I urge you to prioritize eliminating the application deadline for the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF) program before it is too late. The LRIF program allows Liberians living in the U.S. since 2014 to apply for green cards–and in many cases, they can also naturalize as U.S. citizens immediately after being approved for the program. However, the LRIF program has faced barriers in accessibility and implementation from the start–first by the poor rollout of the program, followed by the chaos of the global COVID-19 pandemic, followed by slow change from the Biden Administration. USCIS is facing a historic backlog of millions of applications. USCIS has also been clarifying policy guidance for its officers and for applicants as recently as November 2021. Liberians in the U.S., as well as USCIS itself, need more time to submit applications and process them fairly. The December 20, 2021 deadline adds unnecessary pressure to a program that has changed lives for the better. The eligible population will not change. I urge you to do everything in your power to ensure our Liberian neighbors are able to swiftly and efficiently access the program. Thank you for your work.”
Amplify on Social Media: Share this message on social media using this digital toolkit containing eligibility graphics and use this digital toolkit for myths vs facts graphics.
Additional Resources:
- UndocuBlack Resource Hub on LRIF: https://undocublack.org/lrif
Thank you for taking action, and please share this alert with your networks!