Reps. Tlaib, Dingell introduce bill to secure temporary protected status for Lebanon

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (MI-12) and Debbie Dingell (MI-06) introduced the Lebanon TPS Act, a bill to secure and extend temporary protected status for Lebanon, which is currently set to expire later this month. Those who qualify for TPS are allowed to remain in the U.S. temporarily while conditions in their country of origin remain too dangerous for a safe return.

“We must stand up for our Lebanese neighbors,” said Rep. Tlaib. “The Israeli government continues to illegally occupy and ethnically cleanse entire towns in Lebanon, bulldozing homes that have housed our constituents’ families for generations. Israeli airstrikes continue to kill Lebanese civilians, armed and funded with our tax dollars. To tear Lebanese TPS holders from our communities and send them back to suffer from these war crimes is unacceptable. Our neighbors deserve safety and stability. They belong here, and I will always fight for them.”

“Michigan is home to tens of thousands of Lebanese Americans who have lived here for generations. Today, they live in fear for their families as conditions in Lebanon are too dangerous for them to return. We have a responsibility to provide refuge to those seeking shelter from catastrophe and conflict, and I have long fought for temporary protected status to provide safety and security to those who need it most,” said Rep. Dingell. “We must extend temporary protected status until we can ensure that families can safely return home.” 

Conditions in Lebanon have drastically deteriorated since the country was first designated for TPS in November 2024. Over the past 25 months, Israeli military assaults have killed nearly 9,000 Lebanese and injured over 30,000 others. Since March of this year, the people of Lebanon have endured a large-scale Israeli ground invasion and bombing campaign that has killed over 4,380 people and forcibly displaced 1.2 million—over 20% of the entire Lebanese population—from their homes. Those displaced have faced acute shortages of shelter, food, water, healthcare, and education.

Hundreds of thousands remain displaced, significant Lebanese territory remains under illegal military occupation, and entire towns and villages have been systematically demolished, leaving countless Lebanese with no homes to return to at all. 

Rather than leave the safety of Lebanese TPS holders up to the whims of the Trump administration, Reps. Tlaib and Dingell’s bill would designate TPS for Lebanon until April 2029. 

The Lebanon TPS Act is cosponsored by 18 additional Members of Congress: U.S. Reps. Dwight Evans (PA-03), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Sylvia R. Garcia (TX-29), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Jonathan L. Jackson (IL-01), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Stephen F. Lynch, (MA-08), Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI-08), Gregory Meeks (NY-05), Analilia Mejia (NJ-11), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Hillary Scholten (MI-03), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Nydia M. Velazquez (NY-07), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12).

The bill is also endorsed by over 100 organizations: 99 Coalition, African Communities Together (ACT), Alianza Americas, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), The American Task Force on Lebanon, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, Arab America, Arab American Civic Council, Arab American Heritage Council, Arab American Institute (AAI), Arab Resource & Organizing Center Action (AROC Action), Arlington for Palestine, Borderlands Resource Initiative, CAIR Action, Center for Constitutional Rights, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Church World Service, Climate Refugees, Codepink, CommonDefense, Communities United for Status & Protection (CUSP), Community Alliance for Peace and Justice, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), DAWN, Disability Justice for Palestine, Doctors Against Genocide, Environmentalists Against War, Families for Freedom, Forensic Architecture, Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace, Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ, Good Trouble Monroe, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, Haitian Bridge Alliance, Hindus for Human Rights Action, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, IMEU Policy Project, Immigration Justice Action Team, Indivisible Mass Coalition, Indiana Center for Middle East Peace, Indivisible Marin, Institute for Policy Studies New Internationalism Project, Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, Jewish Voice for Peace, Just Foreign Policy, The Justice Coalition, Justice Is Global, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, Louisiana Advocates for Immigrants in Detention, Majdal: Arab Community Center of San Diego, MARUF CT, Maryland United for Peace and Justice, Methodist Federation for Social Action, Migrant Roots Media, Migrant Support Collective, MIRA/Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, Muslim Democratic Caucus, Muslims United PAC, National Immigration Law Center, National Lawyers Guild, Detroit & Michigan Chapter, National Nurses United, National Partnership for New Americans, New Mexico Alliance for Justice in Palestine, NM Comunidades en Accion y de Fe (NM CAFe), No Concentration Camps US, NorCal Resist, North Shore Sides With Love, Northeast Pennsylvania Democratic Socialists of America, Oasis Legal Services, OPAWL – Building AAPI Feminist Leadership, Organize for Peace, Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore, Pax Christi New York State, Peace Action, Peace Action Montgomery, Peace Action New York State, Peace, Justice, Sustainability NOW!, Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee, Presbyterian Church (USA) Office of Public Witness, Progressive Caucus Michigan Democratic Party, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), Progressive Democrats of America – Central New Mexico, Progressive Peace Coalition, Rabbis for Ceasefire, Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, Racine Coalition for Peace and Justice, Ramallah Club of Metro Detroit, ReThinking Foreign Policy, River Valley for Palestine, RootsAction, Syria-Lebanon Partnership Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA), The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP), Texas Civil Rights Project, The United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR), United Church of Christ, Veterans For Peace, We are CASA , Western New York Peace Center, Worcester Multi Faith for Palestine, and Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation