TPS For Montserrat To Terminate Feb. 27, 2005

IMMIGRATION LAW & POLICY

Asylum, Refugee, and Other
Protected Statuses

TPS for Montserrat to terminate Feb. 27, 2005
Immigrants' Rights Update, Vol. 18, No. 5, August 9, 2004

The designation of Montserrat as a country whose nationals (and persons of no nationality who last habitually resided there) may be eligible for temporary protected status (TPS) in the United States will expire on Aug. 27, 2004, and the secretary of Homeland Security has determined that conditions in Montserrat “no longer support the TPS designation and is therefore terminating the TPS designation of Montserrat,” according to the Federal Register notice announcing the decision. This termination is effective Feb. 27, 2005. Persons with TPS granted under the program for Montserrat will automatically retain their TPS status and employment authorization until Feb. 27 of next year, whereupon their immigration status will revert to what it was prior to their being granted TPS, unless they have acquired another status in the interim. The six-month grace period (between Aug. 27 and Feb. 27) is being granted to provide for “an orderly transition,” according to the Federal Register notice.

The automatic extension of employment authorization applies to anyone who received an employment authorization document (EAD) under the TPS program for Montserrat. These EADs were issued on either Form I-766 (Employment Authorization Document) or Form I-688B (Employment Authorization Card), and they bear an expiration date of Aug. 27, 2004. On its face, the I-766 will contain, under “Category,” the notation “A-12” or “C-19”; or the I-688B will contain, under “Provision of Law,” the notation “274A.12(A)(12)” or “274A.12(C)(19).”

Despite the expiration date these EADs bear, employers are required to accept them as proof of employment eligibility until Feb. 27, 2005. The Federal Register notice suggests that workers who opt to use the EADs as proof of work authorization when completing the I‑9 employment eligibility verification process should “also present to their employer a copy of this Federal Register notice regarding the automatic extension.” Under the antidiscrimination provision of the law that requires employers to verify their employees’ eligibility to work in the U.S., employers should accept any of the EAD variations described in the previous paragraph without requesting further documentary proof of the bearer’s work authorization. For example, they should not request proof that the bearer is a citizen of Montserrat.

Employers with questions regarding the automatic extension of work authorization may call the U.S. Dept. of Justice Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 or 1-800-362-2735 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, or TDD). Employees or job applicants may call the OSC employee hotline at 1-800-255-7688 or 1-800-237-2515 (TDD) for information regarding the automatic extension.

Montserratians were granted the benefit of applying for TPS in 1997 because volcanic eruptions on their 39-square-mile island made it impossible for Montserrat to adequately handle the return of its nationals from abroad. As the eruptions have continued, the designation of Montserrat under the TPS program has been extended six times. Now, however, the DHS secretary has decided that since it is likely that the eruptions will continue for decades, the situation that led to Montserrat’s designation can no longer be considered “‘temporary’ as required by Congress when it enacted the TPS statute.” INA §§ 244(b)(1)(B) and (C).

According to the Federal Register notice, people from Monserrat who have TPS “are urged to use the time before [Feb. 27] . . . to prepare for and arrange their departure from the United States or, in the alternative, apply for other immigration benefits for which they are eligible.” The notice points out that nationals of Montserrat are eligible to apply for British citizenship because they are “British Overseas Territory Citizens.”

69 Fed. Reg. 40642–45 (July 6, 2004).