Exclusive: U.S. to allow people from nations hit by Ebola to stay temporarily

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/20/us-usa-ebola-immigrant-protection-idUSKCN0J41JS20141120

Exclusive: U.S. to allow people from nations hit by Ebola to stay temporarily
By Julia Edwards
WASHINGTON Thu Nov 20, 2014 9:04am EST


A U.S. Coast Guard Corpsman working with the Office of Field Operations checks the temperature of a traveler who has recently traveled to either Guinea, Sierra Leone, or Liberia in this handout picture from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection taken at Washington Dulles International Airport October 16, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/U.S. Customs and Border Protection/Josh Denmark/Handout via Reuters

Related News

• Immigrants face major hurdles in signing up to new Obama plan
  
• UPDATE 2-Ebola spreading intensely in Sierra Leone as toll rises - WHO
  
• New York person's remains test negative for Ebola
  
• CORRECTED-UPDATE 2-Ebola's impact on Africa economy might be less than feared - World Bank
  
• No safety concerns yet in trials of GSK's Ebola vaccine
  

Analysis & Opinion

• And the world’s favorite country is … Germany???
  
• Seven unlikely events in the fight against Islamic State, and their likely outcomes
  

Related Topics

• U.S. »
  
• Health »
  
• Africa »
  

(Reuters) - The Department of Homeland Security will grant temporary protected status to people from the three West African countries most affected by Ebola who are currently residing in the United States, department officials said on Thursday.

People from Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone in the United States as of Thursday may apply for protection from deportation, as well as for work permits, for 18 months, said a Department of Homeland Security official.

After 18 months, the Secretary of Homeland Security will assess whether the protection should be extended, based on the level of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.

 
 

The move is a response to the Ebola epidemic, which has claimed more than 5,000 lives, mostly in the three West African countries.

In order to prevent a mass migration from West Africa to the United States, nationals from these countries who arrive after Thursday will not be eligible for protected status.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials estimate that 8,000 people will be eligible to apply.

"The Ebola response in the United States has been front and center in the United States government at high levels," said a Department of Homeland Security official. "This designation has been part of that constant monitoring, reevaluation and reassessment of the appropriate response."

The United States reserves temporary protected status for people from countries experiencing conditions deemed too dangerous to return to, such as Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.

Unlike other recipients, protected people from West Africa will not be allowed to travel home and then return to the United States, in order to prevent the disease from spreading.

Nationals from the three countries must undergo a background check in order to receive protected status. Those with a criminal history will not be approved, said the Homeland Security official.

(Reporting by Julia Edwards; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Quote :

The United States reserves temporary protected status for people from countries experiencing conditions deemed too dangerous to return to, such as Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.

Unlike other recipients, protected people from West Africa will not be allowed to travel home and then return to the United States, in order to prevent the disease from spreading.

Nationals from the three countries must undergo a background check in order to receive protected status. Those with a criminal history will not be approved, said the Homeland Security official.

So far as it goes I don't have any problem with this. This is a humanitarian effort by The United States and it sure beats the heck out of all the drones, wars, at-AL, we seem all to quick to involve ourselves in. If those people are here on work permits, student visa's, etc. and haven't left the country for Africa since the outbreak then there isn't any way that they could have been exposed to the virus. As for the various other arrivals I do think that they should be monitored closely for at least three weeks to be sure that there are no carriers of the virus. Since the cut-off date is one week from today I can't see a big mass exodus from Africa arriving here either. Seems there is a clear 18 month limited stay too, providing the virus outbreak in Africa has ended.

About time we did something positive for the world instead of bombing them into oblivion.

That's my opinion and I'm stickin' to it!