This Thursday, 400 organizations in the United States wrote a letter to the President of the United States, Joe Biden, asking him to nominate Colombia. Deferred Forced Departure (DED) Program for Undocumented Colombians in that country.
this temporary protected status Will benefit more than 200,000 Colombian irregular migrants in the United States, People covered by DED they will not be subject to deportation for a specified time and Can apply for employment authorization.
In the letter, the organizations confirm that the majority of Colombians have had to flee Colombia due to internal armed conflict and cannot safely return to their country.
The letter, addressed to President Joe Biden as well as Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, urged the Biden government to allocate Colombia within state benefits. D.E.D. within 18 months.
“The painful reality is that as a result of more than 60 years of armed conflict, hundreds of thousands of Colombian citizens have been forced to leave the country and live illegally in the United States for decades. Despite achieving a historic and necessary peace settlement, he Previous Colombian administrations failed to implement the agreement, which resulting in an escalation of violence that continues to this day,” the letter said.
In the document, he emphasizes that United States Department of State announces its support for Colombian transition efforts From conflict to peace. We believe the strategic use of DED to protect Colombians already in the United States will be key to delivering on the promises.”
In an interview with Caracol Radio, Isaias Guerrero, member of the organizing committee of the campaign for DED For undocumented Colombians, he said that “the goal of the letter is to pressure the Biden administration to provide DED, it is part of a series of strategies that we have in place so that President Biden understands the need and urgency of the measure”.
He also said that “The idea is that this letter helps negotiate with the White House, The Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security, we want to demonstrate that there is interest not only nationally but internationally to provide this DED and discuss more details there,” Guerrero told Caracol radio.
On who can request DED, the spokesperson assured that the details would be discussed. He also said that the recent immigration measures implemented by the government Biden, “They’re limiting access to asylum. This CBP One Application needs to be improved, and other methods need to be created so that people can apply to migrate and we also say that migrants crossing 9 borders should not be penalized to reach the United States should be done.
