Expert Comments on HK DED Extension

Bochen Han, South China Morning Post, Jan. 27, 2023

"With 10 days left before their temporary “safe haven” status was set to expire, President Joe Biden has extended Hongkongers’ refuge in the United States by two years, noting “compelling foreign policy reasons”. ... The memo authorises the Department of Homeland Security to give US-based Hongkongers 24 more months of what is formally known as deferred enforced departure (DED). The status means that they are not subject to removal for that period of time and can apply for a US work permit. ... Had the extension not been granted in time, Hongkongers in the US “would lose status and access to work authorisation and those without other options (some might be in the process of applying for various green card pathways) would be forced to remain in the US undocumented”, said Danilo Zak of the National Immigration Forum, a Washington-based immigration advocacy group. But Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration law professor at Cornell University, said that would not have meant they would have been deported immediately. “You cannot just pick someone up and kick them out. There’s due process for everyone in the United States,” he said. First, Homeland Security would have to issue a subpoena for individuals to appear before an immigration judge, Yale-Loehr said. Then those individuals could make a case for asylum, a first step to permanent residence, better known as a green card."