Before leaving office, U.S. President Biden on Jan. 15 extended the “Deferred Enforcement Departure Program” (DED) for some Hong Kong residents in the United States for two more years, allowing them to remain in the country after their visas expire.
Biden said the extension was in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) continued erosion of human rights and freedoms in Hong Kong.
“I am therefore directing an extension and expansion of the deferral of removal of certain Hong Kong residents, regardless of their country of birth, who are present in the United States,” the president said.
Biden said that the extended DED program may apply as long as these people were still living in the United States when the memorandum was signed.
Some are excluded from the DED program, including those who voluntarily return to Hong Kong or China after this memorandum is signed or who have not continuously resided in the United States, as well as those who have been convicted of any felony or two or more misdemeanors committed in the United States and those deemed by the U.S. government as a threat to public safety.
Biden first proposed this plan to suspend forced departures in August 2021 and has extended it once before.
Biden said that the extended plan allows eligible Hong Kong residents to continue living and working in the United States until Feb. 5, 2027.
In the memorandum, Biden condemned the CCP’s unilateral implementation of the National Security Law (NSL) in Hong Kong in June 2020, which undermined the human rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, including the rights protected by the Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
“Following the NSL’s enactment, [China] has continued its assault on Hong Kong’s autonomy, undermining its remaining democratic processes and institutions, imposing limits on academic freedom, and cracking down on freedom of the press. Since June 2020, at least 200 opposition politicians, activists, and protesters have been taken into custody on politically motivated NSL-related charges,” Biden said.
The memorandum also condemned the Hong Kong government’s jailing of 45 democrats in November last year for their peaceful participation in political activities.
“The United States is committed to a foreign policy that unites our democratic values with our foreign policy goals, which is centered on the defense of democracy and the promotion of human rights around the world,” Biden wrote. “Offering safe haven for Hong Kong residents who have been deprived of their guaranteed freedoms in Hong Kong furthers United States interests in the region. The United States will continue to stand firm in our support of the people of Hong Kong.”
