Trump administration extends deportation protections for Lebanese people

Rare reprieve for people protected by temporary protected status granted after administration misses deadline The Trump administration has extended protections shielding about 11,000 Lebanese people from deportation, allowing them to stay and work in the United States for another six months. The decision, announced on Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), marked a rare reprieve for people protected by temporary measures that have been harshly criticized by Republicans. The extension comes amid ongoing fighting in southern Lebanon between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. The decision was automatic, meaning that the administration missed the deadline by which they were supposed to decide on whether to extend the measure called temporary protected status for Lebanese people living in the US who are covered by the program. By statute, the status automatically extends for six months if the department misses the deadline. It was an unusual outcome for an administration that has cancelled the protections that had covered people from 13 countries, including Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua and Syria. TPS was created by Congress in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries