US extends Temporary Protected Status for about 11,000 Lebanese nationals until November

Rare reprieve for people protected by temporary protected status granted after administration misses deadlineThe Trump administration has extended protections shielding about 11,000 Lebanese people from deportation, allowing them to stay and work in the United States for another six months.The decision, announced on Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), marked a rare reprieve for people protected by temporary measures that have been harshly criticized by Republicans. The extension comes amid ongoing fighting in southern Lebanon between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. Continue reading...

The Trump administration has extended protections shielding about 11,000 Lebanese from deportation, allowing them to stay and work in the U.S. for another six months and marking a rare reprieve to any of the people protected by temporary measures which have been harshly criticized by Republicans

US extends TPS for Lebanese citizens in US through November Submitted by Yasmine El-Sabawi on Thu, 05/28/2026 - 15:18 This is the first time the Trump administration has voluntarily extended protections for a group whose country is unsafe to return to A displaced Lebanese girl leans over a balcony at a school-turned shelter, near Sidon, Lebanon, on 17 May 2026 (Aziz Taher/Reuters) Off In an unexpected move this week, the Trump administration will announce that it is extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Lebanese citizens in the US for another six months, until November. The decision, filed in the US Federal Register on Wednesday, is scheduled for publication on Friday.  It is the first voluntary extension of TPS carried out since President Donald Trump returned to power in January 2025. His attempts to terminate designations for citizens of Haiti, Somalia, and Venezuela, among others, have been halted - at least temporarily - by the courts. According to the filing, however, the rationale appears to be that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin has not had the capacity to review TPS for Lebanon and make a determination 60 days before the expiry date. That means TPS is automatically renewed for six months. An estimated 11,000 Lebanese nationals are covered under TPS, based on 2024 figures. The extension allows them to continue living and working legally in the US until 27 November. TPS is a designation for a limited period that allows non-citizens to obtain a US work permit while they await conditions to improve in their own countries, if they are deemed by the US government to be too dangerous to return to. It can be extended for up to 18 months at a time, with no overall limit set in stone.  On 10 March, advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's shutdown of the TPS programme for Somalis in the US. Three Somali TPS holders, one Somali TPS applicant, and the groups African Communities Together and Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans said in their complaint that Somalia is "currently facing a humanitarian crisis with roots that stretch back decades". "In recognition of ongoing armed conflict and other extraordinary conditions threatening the safety of Somali nationals, the United States government designated Somalia for TPS in 1991," they wrote. "Since 2002, each extension and redesignation has acknowledged Somalia’s ongoing armed conflict, which has led to arbitrary detentions, physical violence, torture, the murder of civilians, and other severe human rights violations." The Trump administration has been actively ending TPS programmes since coming to power, arguing that it was not a pathway to permanent residency. "Temporary means temporary. Country conditions in Somalia have improved to the point that it no longer meets the law’s requirement for Temporary Protected Status," former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement earlier this year, regarding ending TPS for Somalis. Ongoing war in Lebanon Lebanese visitors to the US were brought under the TPS programme during the Biden administration in October 2024, amid Israel's escalating war on Lebanon. Israel has killed more than 3,000 Lebanese and wounded nearly 10,000 since Hezbollah attacked Israel on 8 October 2023, in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza.  US Green Card applicants who 'benefit' economy may be exempt from new policy Read More » The extension of TPS for Lebanese citizens is effective from 28 May 2026 until 27 November 2026, DHS said, and only "to otherwise qualified nationals of Lebanon (or in the case of an alien with no nationality, an alien who last habitually resided in Lebanon)... continuously residing in the United States since October 16, 2024".  The move comes as the first Lebanese-Israeli security talks by top military officials are expected to take place in Washington on Friday.  Last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the ambassadors of Lebanon and Israel for the first direct talks between the two sides in more than three decades.  But a ceasefire was not on the agenda, and the main subject of concern, Hezbollah, had no representation, leaving Lebanese officials with little to no authority coming into the meeting.  Despite an official ceasefire, Israel stepped up its military campaign against Lebanon this week with an expanded ground invasion that surpasses the "buffer zone" in southern Lebanon. In just 24 hours, Israel claimed to have hit over 135 "Hezbollah targets", including strikes on the capital, Beirut. At least 14 people have been killed in the renewed Israeli strikes, including children, with the total death toll exceeding 3,000 Lebanese. Israel's war on Lebanon Washington News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

US extends deportation protections for Lebanese nationals The Trump administration will extend deportation protections and work permits for thousands of Lebanese nationals in the US for six months, according to a notice published in the Federal Register. An estimated 11,000 Lebanese nationals are covered under Temporary Protected Status, based on 2024 figures. The extension allows them to continue living and working legally in the US until 27 November. The Trump administration has moved to end most enrolments in the TPS programme, arguing that allowing immigrants to remain in the country runs counter to US interests. Established by Congress in 1990, TPS grants protection from deportation and work authorisation to people already in the US whose home countries are affected by war, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions. In Wednesday’s notice, the Department of Homeland Security said Secretary Markwayne Mullin had not had enough time to review Lebanon’s designation and that the status was therefore automatically extended.

By Ted Hesson and Ryan Patrick JonesWASHINGTON, 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. Under the move, they will be allowed to live and work legally in the U.S. through November 27, the notice said.