WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 The White House on Wednesday announced that Palestinians living in the U.S. will be shielded from deportation as the Israel-Hamas war continues, citing 鈥渟ignificantly deteriorated鈥 conditions on the ground in Gaza.
Palestinians will be covered under what鈥檚 known as 鈥渄eferred enforced departure,鈥 an authority used at a president鈥檚 discretion. The directive signed by President effectively allows Palestinian immigrants who would otherwise have to leave the United States to stay without the threat of deportation. That protection will last 18 months, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said, and will give Palestinians who qualify a 鈥渢emporary safe haven.鈥
"While I remain focused on improving the humanitarian situation, many civilians remain in danger," 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 enforced departure or a similar authority, called temporary protected status, to ensure that Palestinians currently in the United States would not be forced to return to in Gaza.
鈥淢ore than 28,000 Palestinians 鈥 including thousands of women and children 鈥 have been killed in the last four months in Gaza,鈥 Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who led the effort from congressional Democrats, said Wednesday. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 decision by the Administration protects Palestinians in the United States from being forced to return to these clearly dangerous and deadly conditions.鈥
Palestinians who have been convicted of felonies or 鈥渙therwise deemed to pose a public safety threat鈥 do not qualify, Sullivan said. Those who decide to voluntarily return home would also lose any protections from deportation.
The president is facing from Arab Americans and progressives for his full-throated support of Israel since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, although Biden has insisted he is trying to minimize civilian casualties.
More than 27,000 people, mostly women and minors, have been killed in Gaza since according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 more, mostly civilians, in its attack.
It鈥檚 not immediately clear how many Palestinians would be affected by the deferred departure designation, but the number would be small. According to the November letter from lawmakers, there were roughly 7,241 nonimmigrant visas issued to Palestinians in 2022, the most recent year for which data was available, though that isn鈥檛 an exact correlation to the number of people who would be eligible.
The designation is not a specific immigration status, but those covered under the policy aren鈥檛 subject to deportation. Eligibility requirements are based on terms set by Biden. Others right now included under the same policy are people from Liberia and Hong Kong.
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Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.
