By Karen Lee Ziner
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed and 15 Senate colleagues, among them Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, are asking President Obama to act by a March 13 deadline to preserve the legal status of Liberians living in the United States.
The request affects the thousands of Liberians in Rhode Island; believed to be the largest Liberian population in the U.S. per capita.
Reed is also urging Mr. Obama to include permanent resident status for qualifying Liberians in comprehensive immigration reform.
"In the short term, we need to lift the March deadline and extend DED. In the long term, we need to fix our immigration laws and extend permanent residency status to Liberians who have been living here and playing by the rules," the Rhode Island Democrat wrote.