The United States is granting temporary immigration protections for thousands of Lebanese nationals as Israel continues a devastating month-long assault on their home country.
The protections include offering Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible Lebanese nationals who arrived in the US before October 16, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Thursday.
With TPS, Lebanese citizens can stay in the US for 18 months and file for work permits due to the “ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions in Lebanon”, DHS said in a statement.
The new measures are expected to cover some 11,000 Lebanese nationals currently in the US, according to the department.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) welcomed the “important measures” to keep Lebanese citizens out of an active war zone but called on the US to stop arming Israel with the very weapons being used against Lebanon.
“It is not lost on us that these nationals are in this position …