In December 2023, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), in collaboration with the Cameroon American Council (CAC), Cameroon Student Union (CAMSU), Cameroonian Muslimahs of North America (CAMNA), jointly issued a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The letter underscored the dire conditions in Cameroon, the pervasive anti-Africanness and anti-Blackness in immigration and the urgent necessity for Special Humanitarian Parole for Cameroon.
CAIR is calling on Congress to immediately introduce a resolution granting special humanitarian parole for Cameroonian nationals who now face deportation to dangerous and deteriorating conditions.
On June 3, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), under the leadership of Secretary Kristi Noem, posted an official Federal Register notice ending TPS for Cameroon, citing claims that the country no longer meets the statutory requirements. The designation is set to expire on August 4, 2025.
SEE: DHS Terminates Temporary Protected Status for Cameroon
CAIR and human rights experts reject that assessment, pointing to intensifying violence and insecurity in the country’s English-speaking regions, ongoing repression, and humanitarian access restrictions.
In a statement, CAIR’s Government Affairs Director Robert S. McCaw said:
“Cameroon is not safe. The Trump administration is turning its back on families who fled violence, many of whom are Muslims and members of vulnerable communities. Stripping their legal protection and forcing them into harm’s way isn’t just wrong, it’s a betrayal of America’s moral responsibility.”
In 2022, Islam was practiced by roughly 30.6% of Cameroon’s population, or approximately 8.8 million Muslims. Many Cameroonian TPS holders in the U.S. are from these communities, which are especially vulnerable to both state violence and armed group persecution. Deporting them under these conditions raises serious concerns about religious freedom, security, and due process.
Despite DHS’s findings, Cameroon remains gripped by instability and violence:
- Armed clashes between government forces and separatist groups, as well as infighting among separatists, continue to devastate the north-west and south-west English-speaking regions.
- On January 15, 2025, a series of violent incidents in Bamenda resulted in at least two deaths and eight injuries, sending waves of panic through the population.
- The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has documented increasing use of improvised explosive devices, targeted attacks, roadblocks, and a two-month ban on travel along a critical regional road—all of which have restricted humanitarian access and endangered civilians.
- In November 2024 alone, OCHA reported six attacks on education, including five kidnappings and one killing.
CAIR asserts that Cameroon remains in crisis and is not prepared to safely receive deportees. Cameroonians in the United States must be allowed to stay. CAIR was an original supporter of the resolution to grant special humanitarian parole for Cameroonians.
In 2024 CAIR called on congress to support H. Res 1048, which calls for the Department of Homeland Security to grant humanitarian parole for Cameroonian Asylees.
The resolution was introduced by Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), along with original cosponsors Representatives Glenn Ivey (MD-04), David Trone (MD-06), CA Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Emanuel Cleaver, II (MO-5), James P. McGovern (MA-02), and Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D. (NY-16), in introducing the Humanitarian Parole for Cameroon Resolution.
SEE: CAIR ACTION ALERT: Urge Member of Congress to Support H.Res 1048 Granting Humanitarian Parole for Cameroon
In December 2023, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), in collaboration with the Cameroon Student Union (CAMSU), Cameroonian Muslimahs of North America (CAMNA), jointly issued a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The letter underscored the dire conditions in Cameroon, the pervasive anti-Africanness and anti-Blackness in immigration, and the urgent necessity for Special Humanitarian Parole for Cameroon.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com