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Nineteen years ago, the United States extended protection to Liberians in the United States who faced return to Liberia's brutal civil war. On March 31, that protection is set to expire.

Liberians here under protection known as 

. They've spent nearly two decades lawfully present in the United States without any path to permanent residence through our labyrinthine immigration system. Their roots in the United States have grown deeper every year as the mortgage payments are made, the careers advance, the small businesses prosper, and the kids -- who are U.S. citizens -- get older.

But a DED designation -- like immigration policy itself -- isn't really about the people affected and what makes them safe, free or happy. The question of deferred enforced departure, like all of immigration policy, is a complicated political tangle, where the real issues are the political and foreign policy effects of extending protection to Liberians.

Take a look at the situation in Liberia. In 2003 a peace agreement ended the most recent outbreak of brutal fighting throughout the country, creating a truth and reconciliation commission and resulting in the democratic election of 

. But the transition to peace is neither quick nor easy.

 characterized by the egregious violations of human rights that created the Liberian diaspora. From 1979 until 2003, the Liberian people survived a bloody coup, years of military rule and two civil wars. The atrocities were the result of complex historical and geopolitical factors. 

The slave trade and U.S. efforts to return slaves to Africa, the abuse of the indigenous population by a ruling oligarchy, the looting of the country's natural resources by its own corrupt government and by foreign interests, and the ambitions of other African leaders all contributed to the conflict. The international community, including the United States, failed to take effective action to limit the bloodshed.

The violence finally ended in 2003, but the peace remains fragile. Accountability for human rights violations committed during the conflict remains elusive. Many of those responsible for the atrocities remain in public positions, and Liberia has neither the political will nor the legal infrastructure to hold people accountable. 

A recent report by Dorsey & Whitney LLP gives insight into the state of Liberia today. Only 15 percent of Liberians are formally employed. As of 2006, over 76 percent of Liberians lived below the poverty line (less than a dollar a day) and 52 percent lived in extreme poverty (less than 50 cents per day). One in five Liberian children will not live past age 5.

The wars destroyed Liberia's infrastructure. Liberians cannot flush their toilets. There is no garbage removal or sewer system. Most Liberians do not have access to safe drinking water. There are 10 working streetlights in Monrovia, and kids gather under these after dark to study because there aren't lights in their homes.

With the Liberian economy in tatters, money from relatives living in the United States is a lifeline. Net remittances to Liberia, according to the 

, were $54.2 million in 2006, amounting to one-fifth of Liberia's income. 

So is Liberia ready for the end of deferred enforced departure and the expulsion of thousands of Liberians from the United States later this month?

And that brings us back to those Liberians who've lived under U.S. protection since 1991. The president's foreign policy power is about more than state-to-state relationships. It involves consideration of humanitarian issues and of how best to bring much-needed foreign aid to countries in need of assistance. 

Good foreign policy is based on respect for the human rights -- really, the human dignity -- of those involved. Mass deportations to Liberia at the end of this month would signal that human rights aren't part of the foreign policy equation in the Obama administration. That's not a message to send today.

Michele Garnett McKenzie is an attorney and director of advocacy for the 

, which describes its mission as "to implement international human rights standards in order to promote civil society and reinforce the rule of law."

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