Over 500 College and University Presidents Celebrate Administration for Long-Awaited Designation of TPS for Cameroon

OVER 500 COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS CELEBRATE ADMINISTRATION FOR LONG-AWAITED DESIGNATION OF TPS FOR CAMEROON
Coalition also requests Special Student Relief for the more than 900 Cameroonian international students 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 18, 2022
CONTACT: Jose Magaña-Salgado (jose@presidentsalliance.org)

Washington, D.C.—The Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration applauds the administration’s Friday designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Cameroon. An estimated 40,000 non-citizen Cameroonians will now have access to work permits and protection from deportation back to life-threatening conditions in Cameroon. Special Student Relief (SSR) would protect Cameroonian nearly 1,000 F-1 Cameroonian international students in the United States and provide additional flexibility as they complete their studies due to conditions at home. We now urge the administration to swiftly provide SSR to Cameroonian international students in the United States. Coupling TPS designations with an announcement of SSR is a way that the United States can more efficiently and effectively provide humanitarian relief to those in need.

This designation comes after months of effort and outreach as country conditions in Cameroon continue to destabilize, and we applaud the administration for their recent efforts to utilize TPS more zealously than previous administrations. TPS and SSR provide vital assistance for individuals currently residing in the United States, allowing them to work, go to school, and be active participants in the economy. The Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration is elated with the recent designations, and hopes that the administration will continue their efforts and offer these protections to other countries such as Ethiopia, Colombia, and Guatemala, all of whom are in similar positions of crisis.

Jose Magaña-Salgado, Director of Policy and Communications, stated: “We are ecstatic that the administration finally granted a TPS designation for Cameroon. For the last few months, the advocates at Cameroon Advocacy Network and others have been doing a tremendous job of raising awareness around the horrifying conditions on the ground in Cameroon, as well as the dangers awaiting those who are deported. We are grateful to Secretary Mayorkas, President Biden, and all of the many individuals who have worked tirelessly to make this happen. As the administration continues to use their authority to grant humanitarian relief via TPS, we hope that countries like Ethiopia, Guatemala, and other countries are similarly designated for TPS.”

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The nonpartisan, nonprofit Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration brings college and university presidents and chancellors together on the immigration issues that impact higher education, our students, campuses, communities and nation. We work to advance just, forward-looking immigration policies and practices at the federal, state, and campus levels that are consistent with our heritage as a nation of immigrants and the academic values of equity and openness. The Alliance is composed of over 500 presidents and chancellors of public and private colleges and universities, enrolling over five million students in 43 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico.