DHS Extends Temporary Protections for Lebanese Immigrants in US

Temporary deportation protections set to expire Wednesday for immigrants from Lebanon will automatically continue for six months, the Department of Homeland Security announced.

DHS didn’t make a timely determination whether the country continues to meet the standards for Temporary Protected Status, meaning those protections remain in place until at least Nov. 27 for about 11,000 people eligible under a previous decision by the agency.

Rapidly unfolding events in Lebanon—including a ground operation by Israeli forces—and a change in leadership at the agency affected the ability of DHS to conduct the required review, it said in a Federal Register notice released Wednesday. But it said beneficiaries should prepare for a return to the country in the event a TPS designation isn’t extended again.

TPS allows foreign nationals without another lawful status to remain in the US for up to 18 months with employment authorization when it’s unsafe to return to their home countries. The Trump administration has sought to dismantle protections under the program, terminating designations for 13 countries that have shielded hundreds of thousands from removal.

The US Supreme Court last month heard arguments over the lawfulness of TPS terminations for Haiti and Syria. The government has asked justices to lift lower court holds on TPS terminations and to rule that the process behind those decisions is off limits from court review.

DHS issued a TPS designation for Lebanon under the Biden administration in 2024, citing armed conflict and a humanitarian crisis in the country. The agency is required by statute to make an objective review of those conditions at least 60 days before a designation expires.