President Joe Biden on July 26, 2024, granted Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for certain Lebanese nationals for 18 months due to the humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon created by the ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. To be eligible, the Lebanese national must have been in the United States as of July 26, 2024, and not voluntarily returned to Lebanon after July 26, 2024. They must also meet the general admissibility requirements.

This presidential action reportedly will affect approximately 12,000 Lebanese nationals who are currently in the United States, including 1,700 students.

President Biden also directed the Department of Homeland Security to take the steps necessary to authorize employment for those eligible for Lebanese DED and to consider suspending regulatory requirements for Lebanese F-1 students who may be suffering from economic hardship due to the conditions in their home country.

It is in the president’s discretion to authorize DED as part of his constitutional power to conduct foreign relations. DED is not a specific immigration status; however, individuals covered by DED are not subject to removal from the United States for the designated period of time.

Instructions on how to apply for employment authorization and possible travel authorization will be in the Federal Register.

Lebanon joins the list of countries that have been designated for DED: Liberia, Hong Kong, and Palestine.

Jackson Lewis attorneys are available to assist and advise about DED, temporary protected status, or TPS, and other humanitarian parole processes.

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Photo of Forrest G. Read IV Forrest G. Read IV

Forrest Read is a Principal in the Raleigh, North Carolina, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He has extensive experience in both business immigration law and employment law and has particular focus in legal issues in graduate medical education (GME).

Mr. Read’s immigration practice…

Forrest Read is a Principal in the Raleigh, North Carolina, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He has extensive experience in both business immigration law and employment law and has particular focus in legal issues in graduate medical education (GME).

Mr. Read’s immigration practice focuses on assisting employers in obtaining employment-based nonimmigrant visas (e.g., H-1B, L, O, TN) for foreign national employees and work-related immigrant (green card) visas, including PERM Labor Certifications, and advising employers on compliance with U.S. immigration laws and regulations. He has broad experience in advising large, mid-size and small employers on their various immigration needs and developing strategies to help them navigate through complex immigration issues. He also has particular experience in counseling employers in the health care industry and addressing immigration-related issues that arise for their broad range of health care professional employees (including advising on and obtaining employment authorization for medical residents and fellows and obtaining J-1 visa waivers for foreign national physicians completing their medical training in the United States). His immigration practice also includes defending employers in connection with Department of Labor H-1B and H-2B investigations.

Mr. Read’s employment law experience includes representing management, particularly academic medical centers in the GME context, in a wide array of workplace disputes and litigation before federal and state courts and administrative agencies, including matters related to discrimination, retaliation, harassment, disability, family and medical leave, various wage and hour issues, contracts, and intentional torts. He advises academic medical centers on the interplay between applicable academic law and employment law and the ramifications of what are divergent legal requirements and standards. Mr. Read also provides counsel with respect to the legal impact of competency standards for residents and trainees in GME, including situations involving discipline, remediation, and dismissal. He provides advice and guidance in the peer review process, including provision of verification and assessment of training in response to third party inquiries.

As a member of the Firm’s Corporate Diversity Counseling group, Mr. Read also has experience in providing assessments and making recommendations to corporate and institutional clients with respect to diversity and inclusion policies and initiatives, conducting related internal investigations, and shaping, developing and enforcing effective policies and initiatives to ensure consistency with client values and in furtherance of business goals and objectives.

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