WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House announced Wednesday that Palestinians living in the United States will be protected from deportation because Israel-Hamas War ” continues, citing the “significantly deteriorated” conditions on the ground in Gaza.
The Palestinians will be covered by what is known as “deferred forced departure,” an authority used at the discretion of the president. The directive signed by the president Joe Biden effectively allows Palestinian immigrants who would otherwise have to leave the United States to remain without threat of deportation. This protection will last 18 months, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said, and will provide Palestinians who meet the criteria with “temporary refuge.”
“While I remain focused on improving the humanitarian situation, many civilians remain at risk,” Biden wrote in the memorandum that accompanied the announcement.
Biden’s decision comes after more than 100 Democratic lawmakers called on the White House to use either deferred forced departure or a similar authority, called temporary protected status, to ensure that Palestinians currently in the United States are not forced to return to the United States. dangerous conditions in Gaza.
“More than 28,000 Palestinians – including thousands of women and children – have been killed over the past four months in Gaza,” Sen. Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, who led the efforts, said Wednesday. Democrats in Congress. “Today’s decision by the Administration protects Palestinians in the United States from being forced to return to these clearly dangerous and deadly conditions. »
Palestinians who have been convicted of crimes or “otherwise considered to pose a threat to public security” are not eligible, Sullivan said. Those who decide to return home voluntarily would also lose all protection from deportation.
The president faces growing reaction Arab Americans and progressives for his wholehearted support for Israel since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, although Biden insisted he was trying to minimize civilian casualties.
More than 27,000 people, mostly women and minors, have been killed in Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped around 250 others, mostly civilians, during its attack.
It is not yet clear how many Palestinians would be affected by the deferred departure designation, but the number would be small. According to the lawmakers’ November letter, approximately 7,241 nonimmigrant visas were issued to Palestinians in 2022, the most recent year for which data was available, although this is not a correlation. accurate with the number of eligible people.
The designation does not constitute a specific immigration status, but individuals covered by the policy are not subject to deportation. Eligibility requirements are based on conditions set by Biden. Others currently included in the same policy are people from Liberia and Hong Kong.
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Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.