Justice Action Center (JAC) urges the Biden Administration to issue Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Cameroon. JAC deputy director Adela de la Torre issued the following statement:
“There are no possible reasons other than political cowardice and anti-Black racism that the Biden Administration should hesitate any longer in designating TPS for Cameroon, where continued armed conflict has killed more than 4,000 and has displaced more than 700,000 of its people. With the country facing at least three separate armed conflicts or humanitarian crises affecting nearly all of the country’s ten regions, including its far north region’s conflict with terrorist group Boko Haram, many Cameroonians are fleeing for their lives to the United States, where they have the Congressional and statutory right to seek asylum.
Deporting Cameroonians back to certain danger is not only morally unconscionable, it is also a violation of international law. And as a recent Human Rights Watch report illustrates, Cameroonians deported from the US have faced systematic state torture, abuse, and detention in horrific conditions.
The Biden Administration has the opportunity to save thousands of lives, alleviate the USCIS backlog, and offer some form of redress for the rampant anti-Black racism inherent within the US immigration system. It must designate TPS for Cameroon now.”
# # #
Justice Action Center (JAC) is a new nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting for greater justice for immigrant communities by combining litigation and storytelling. JAC is committed to bringing additional litigation resources to address unmet needs, empower clients, and change the corrosive narrative around immigrants in the U.S. Learn more at justiceactioncenter.org.