The Department Of Homeland Security (DHS) will continue to protect around 7,000 Syrian refugees in the U.S. due to the ongoing violence in the country, according to the agency on Wednesday.
The protections for Syrian refugees, which was established under former President Barrack Obama in 2012, will however no longer allow immigrants who arrived in the U.S. after August 2016 to apply, a change in the previous policy. The over 6,000 Syrians who are currently in the U.S. will be protected by DHS for another 18 months, while war continues in Syria, according to a CNN report.
“After carefully considering conditions on the ground, I have determined that it is necessary to extend the Temporary Protected Status designation for Syria,” DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in a statement. “It is clear that the conditions upon which Syria’s designation was based continue to exist, therefore an extension is warranted under the statute. We will continue to determine each country’s TPS status on a country-by-country basis.”
President Donald Trump called Syrian refugees a “great Trojan horse” during the 2016 campaign, but his administration has continue to resettle them faster than Obama. (RELATED: Trump Is Resettling Syrian Refugees At A Much Quicker Pace Than Obama)
In 60 days, the protection policy expires for Syrian refugees, that is reportedly why the DHS made an official decision to continue to protect the refugees for at least another 18 months.
The long civil war in Syria has resulted in at least five million refugees across the world.
This post has been updated to include the Department of Homeland Security’s official announcement on Temporary Protected Status for Syrians.
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