By Ted Hesson and Ryan Patrick Jones
WASHINGTON, May 27 (Reuters) – The Trump administration will extend deportation protections and work permits for thousands of Lebanese nationals in the U.S. for six months, according to a notice posted to the Federal Register on Wednesday.
Some 11,000 people from Lebanon are covered under the Temporary Protected Status designation, according to a 2024 estimate. With the extension, they will be allowed to live and work legally in the U.S. through November 27, the notice said.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has moved to end the vast majority of enrollment in the TPS program, saying allowing those immigrants to remain goes against U.S. interests.
Created by Congress in 1990, TPS provides deportation relief and work permits to people already in the U.S. if their home countries experience a natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary event. Countries must be designated for the status by the homeland security secretary for periods of six to 18 months.
In the notice on Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Secretary Markwayne Mullin had not had adequate time to review Lebanon’s designation and that it was allowed to renew automatically.
The notice cites tensions in the region linked to the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran and continued cross-border attacks. Israel pounded Lebanon with air strikes on Tuesday in one of the heaviest days of bombing in weeks.
Mullin, a former U.S. senator from Oklahoma, was confirmed as secretary in March after Trump fired Kristi Noem.
As secretary, Noem had terminated TPS for countries as they came up for renewal, triggering lawsuits that claimed the terminations lacked proper review and were motivated by racial animus.
The Supreme Court in April heard oral arguments over the terminations of TPS for Haitians and Syrians, with a ruling expected by the end of the court’s term in late June or early July.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson and Ryan Patrick Jones; Editing by Caitlin Webber, Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Berkrot)
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