The Biden-Harris Department of Homeland Security will grant Lebanese nationals currently in the U.S. temporary protected status to remain in the country amid the escalation in violence in the Middle East.
Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based terror group backed by Iran, has been launching attacks on Israel since the Hamas-led incursion into the Jewish state last year that left 1,200 dead and more than 200 taken back to Gaza as hostages.
"The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is announcing new actions to provide temporary immigration reprieve to eligible Lebanese nationals currently in the United States and allowing them the opportunity to request work authorization," DHS said Thursday in a press release.
Similar to its campaign in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces has been planning a ground offensive in Lebanon in an attempt to destroy Hezbollah, even as the terror group continues to launch attacks on Israel.
"Included in today's announcement are details related to the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for Lebanese nationals as previously announced in July, and a planned new Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Lebanon," DHS said.
According to the department, approximately 11,000 Lebanese nationals will be eligible for the temporary protected status, as well as 1,740 for nonimmigrant students from Lebanon who are in the U.S.
The protected status for Lebanese nationals follows the administration's harshly criticized humanitarian parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans that has allowed 30,000 total immigrants from those countries into the U.S. on a monthly basis.
According to The Post Millennial, the temporary protected status program for Haitians has been repeatedly extended over the course of years and Democrats have pushed to extend the status for Venezuelans as well.
Lebanese nationals who are in the U.S. as of Wednesday are eligible for the program, but any extension of the protected status could lead to national security concerns.
A Lebanese man who identified himself as a member of Hezbollah was reportedly apprehended by Border Patrol in March and admitted to plotting a terror attack on New York City.
He said, "I'm going to try to make a bomb," according to a Border Patrol document reviewed by the New York Post.
Citing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Post reported that the man had been training with Hezbollah for seven years and served four years as a member of the militant group guarding weapons.