Biden urged to expand immigration protection for Palestinians

Democratic legislators call for Temporary Protected Status for people from Palestinian territories

President Joe Biden walks to speak in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington in May last year. AP

US President Joe Biden is facing pressure from members of his Democratic Party to expand immigration protection for Palestinians as the war in Gaza grinds on and settler violence intensifies in the occupied West Bank.

In a letter signed by several members of the party, including Senator Dick Durbin, Mr Biden is urged to “promptly” apply Temporary Protected Status to Palestinians, which would protect them from deportation and provide them with work permits.

“The continuing conflict in Gaza and the West Bank is precisely the kind of crisis Congress envisioned when crafting TPS,” the letter reads.

Health authorities in Gaza say more than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave since the war broke out, with thousands more feared dead under the rubble. At the weekend, a barrage of Israeli strikes killed at least 20 Palestinians and hit a school where displaced people had sought shelter.

Violence in the West Bank has also escalated, with frequent Israeli military raids to root out militant groups as well as a growing number of settler attacks on Palestinians.

Congress created TPS for citizens of countries that are enduring armed conflict, environmental disasters or other “extraordinary and temporary” conditions.

“This ‘continuing armed conflict’ would clearly ‘pose a serious threat’ to the personal safety of Palestinians forced to return home,” the senators wrote.

But for many Palestinian Americans, without meaningful efforts to block US aid to Israel and demand a ceasefire in Gaza, the effort rings hollow.

“Palestinians don't want to leave Gaza, but are being forced to, because … top Democrats in the Senate continue to unequivocally support Israel, and continue to vote for more weapons and money used to kill our people,” Hatem Abudayyeh, chairman of the US Palestinian Community Network, told The National.

“The most important protection for Palestinians would be stopping the genocide, immediately implementing an arms embargo on Israel, ending all us aid to Israel, and ultimately ending Israeli occupation and colonisation. That's what we want.”

In the letter, the senators recalled that TPS has previously been applied to populations facing similar wars, such as when former president Bill Clinton applied the status to Kosovo during the war in Yugoslavia.

In October, the Biden administration took a similar step for Lebanon as the Israel-Hezbollah war unfolded.

Last year, Mr Biden expanded protections for Palestinians after lobbying from members of Congress, and authorised deferred enforced departure for the community. That classification is similar to TPS, but is not considered a immigration benefit, and there is no mechanism to apply for it.

At the time, the status was celebrated by Palestinians and other Arab Americans, who had otherwise been critical of the administration's increased support for Israel.

Abed Ayoub, the executive director of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, called the designation “an important step, and one we welcome”. He called for the administration to work on “reuniting Palestinian families through the humanitarian parole process”.

Many TPS holders have voiced concerns that president-elect Donald Trump may end the status on returning to the White House in January.

Conservatives have criticised TPS, arguing that it has pivoted away from its aims. The controversial far-right Project 2025 policy outline has called for the programme to be scrapped.

About a million immigrants from 17 countries, including Lebanon, Haiti, Afghanistan and Sudan, are protected under TPS. Mr Trump has said mass deportations are a priority for the new government in its first 100 days, and he has suggested he would scale back the programme.

Recent data from the Department of Homeland Security, first published by Forbes, showed that up to 2.7 million people could be deported within two years if Mr Trump ends TPS and other immigration protections.

A TPS designation can be made for six, 12 or 18 months, meaning that if Mr Biden were to grant the status now, it would protect Palestinians for part of Mr Trump's term.