Early in 2023, the Biden Administration “granted an 11th-hour reprieve from deportation Thursday to thousands of Hong Kong residents, saying they could remain in the United States for another two years,” according to a January 26 UPI story.
Biden extended an August 2021 program that defers the deportation of Hong Kong residents who are overstaying their visas, typically in response to China’s massive crackdown on the rights of Hong Kong citizens. Beneficiaries of the extension welcomed the news but also wondered why they couldn’t simply be granted permanent status instead of being kept on tenterhooks.
Maya Wang, China director for Human Rights Watch, told Voice of America that although the decision is a relief, refugees from Hong Kong “shouldn’t have to endure this roller coaster of an extension every two years, which leaves them with uncertainty, their lives in limbo.”
