White House Memorandum on the Deferred Enforced Departure for Certain Lebanese Nationals

On July 26, 2022, the Biden Administration released a Memorandum on the Deferred Enforced Departure for Certain Lebanese Nationals based on deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the region. This memo directs the Department of Homeland Security to take measures to defer the removal of any Lebanese national present in the U.S. as of the memo’s release, except for:

(1)  those who have voluntarily returned to Lebanon after the date of this memorandum;

(2)  those who have not continuously resided in the United States since the date of this memorandum;

(3)  those who are inadmissible under section 212(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)) or deportable under section 237(a)(4) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(4));

(4)  those who have been convicted of any felony or two or more misdemeanors committed in the United States, or who meet any of the criteria set forth in section 208(b)(2)(A) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(2)(A));

(5)  those who are subject to extradition;

(6)  those whose presence in the United States the Secretary of Homeland Security has determined is not in the interest of the United States or presents a danger to public safety; or

(7) those whose presence in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.

This memo further directs DHS to take appropriate measures to authorize employment for noncitizens whose removal has been deferred, as provided by this memorandum, for the duration of such deferral, and to consider suspending regulatory requirements with respect to F-1 nonimmigrant students who are Lebanese nationals as the Secretary of Homeland Security determines to be appropriate.