US extends protected status for 7,000 Syrians

WASHINGTON: The United States has extended a special protected status for Syrians that keeps some 7,000 of them from being deported back to their war-wracked country, the Department of Homeland Security said.

President Donald Trump’s administration has stripped that same protection from thousands of immigrants from several Central American countries, raising fears among Syrians that they might be next.

“After carefully considering conditions on the ground, I have determined that it is necessary to extend the Temporary Protected Status designation for Syria.

“It is clear that the conditions upon which Syria’s designation was based continue to exist, therefore an extension is warranted under the statute,” Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said.

The extension lasts through Sept 30, 2019, and Nielsen will review conditions ahead of that date to determine whether it should be extended again or ended.