MINNEAPOLIS (AP) âÄî The Center for Victims of Torture in Minneapolis is asking President Barack Obama to allow thousands of Liberians in the United States to extend their stay. The Unites States granted about 3,600 Liberians temporary protected status to settle in the U.S. while civil war ravaged their African homeland. However, that war has ended and a fledgling democracy is taking hold. The final 18-month extension granted by former President George W. Bush ends March 31. The center’s Executive Director Douglas Johnson writes the impending deadline had made many of its Liberian clients anxious about their futures, and that’s impeding their recovery. Many of the Liberians scheduled for deportation live in Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center, two Twin Cities suburbs.