BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — At the end of the month a program allowing Liberian immigrants to live legally in the United States ends.  

The immigration action is called “Deferred Enforced Departure."  Last year, President Trump ended the policy, saying the west African country is now stable. Sunday, U-S Senator Tina Smith, U-S Representative Dean Phillips and local mayors, gathered at Brooklyn Park City hall to push for an extension to the policy. 

Louise Stevens is among the 8,000 Liberians in the U.S. facing deportation. 

“Minnesota is my home, go back to a country I haven't been to in almost 19 years. It is hard to comprehend,” she said. 

She says the weight of remembering is heavy.

“We don't have a lot of pictures from back home because of the war,” she said. “When I left Liberia, I left with fear because of the war. When I was running I just managed to pick up a few photos  just a few for memory.

But through a handful of photos, Stevens teaches her daughter about  a home she says felt like hell. 

“It was a brutal war. It was. Scary. Nasty,” she said. “I lived in Liberia during the Civil War for ten years. It started in 1990.”  

U-S Representative Dean Phillips said it is important to note the program was established under the Clinton administration. Presidents Bush, Obama and Trump previously extended it. Phillips said he hopes what he calls the right thing is done, again. 

“Not just to keep extending but to consider what is at the heart of this. A pathway to citizenship for people who have earned it,” Phillips said.  

Meanwhile, Stevens worked for Medtronic 13 years and now cares for vulnerable adults.  She and her daughter are leaning on their faith

Both know every ending has a beginning. 

And they hope what began in Minnesota will never end. If it does? 

“To answer that question even brings tears to my eyes because I don't know,” Stevens said. “I don’t know.”