Cotton to Mayorkas: Granting TPS to Lebanese National Endangers Americans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Caroline Tabler or Patrick McCann (202) 224-2353
October 18, 2024

Cotton to Mayorkas: Granting TPS to Lebanese National Endangers Americans

Washington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today wrote a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urging him to rescind his decision to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Lebanese nationals currently in the United States. Senator Cotton warns Mayorkas that these unvetted Lebanese nationals pose a grave risk to our national security and to the safety of our citizens.

In part, Senator Cotton wrote:

"We have seen a dramatic increase in unvetted illegal immigrants as a result of your open-border policies. Under the Biden-Harris administration, Border Patrol has encountered thousands of illegal immigrants from countries with deep ties to terrorism, including Lebanon. In fact, Border Patrol agents apprehended a Lebanese man at the southern border earlier this year who said he belonged to Hezbollah and came to America to build a bomb."

Full text of the letter may be found here and below.

October 18, 2024

The Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas
Secretary
Department of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C. 20528

Dear Secretary Mayorkas:

I write regarding your dangerous decision to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Lebanese nationals currently in the United States. The presence of these Lebanese nationals in the United States regardless of whether they lawfully entered poses a grave risk to our national security.

We have seen a dramatic increase in unvetted illegal immigrants as a result of your open-border policies. Under the Biden-Harris administration, Border Patrol has encountered thousands of illegal immigrants from countries with deep ties to terrorism, including Lebanon. In fact, Border Patrol agents apprehended a Lebonese man at the southern border earlier this year who said he belonged to Hezbollah and came to America to build a bomb.

Your department estimates that granting TPS status will protect 11,000 Lebanese nationals from deportation, which undoubtedly includes many Hezbollah terrorists. This reckless policy endangers the safety of our citizens.

I urge you to rescind this decision before it goes into effect. For Lebanese nationals who have a legal basis to be present in the United States and who can credibly claim a risk to their lives if they return to Lebanon, your department could evaluate asylum requests on a case-by-case basis. This policy would be a far more sensible and safer course of action than a blanket TPS grant to all Lebanese nationals.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,

Tom Cotton

United States Senator

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