LANSING – Governor Whitmer and other officials from Michigan have urged the Biden administration to intensify its efforts to bring American citizens and their families stranded in Lebanon back to the U.S., as the security situation worsens due to the Israeli attacks against Lebanon escalated the beginning of last week.

In a letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, the Democratic governor explained that lawmakers in Lansing are receiving reports of American citizens facing difficulties in their efforts to leave Lebanon, including flight cancellations and soaring ticket prices.

“We have already heard reports of confirmed deaths, and we fear there may be more victims,” Whitmer wrote. “We cannot stand idle while the people of our state and their families continue to suffer.

“It is essential that we all work together to evacuate Michigan residents to safety and return them to their families immediately,” she added.

The letter noted that about 140 American citizens or permanent residents from Michigan’s 12th Congressional District, which includes parts of Wayne and Oakland Counties and is represented by Arab American U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, are struggling to leave Lebanon amid growing challenges.

Israel recently renewed its bombing of several Lebanese villages and cities in the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon, killing more than 1,200 people, a quarter of whom were women and children, according to data from the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud noted last week that the Arab American community in the city is “watching in horror as their loved ones in Lebanon are being slaughtered”, especially in Beirut’s suburbs and southern Lebanese villages.

Several Lebanese families in the Dearborn area have recently been devastated by the deaths of family members and relatives, including Kamel Jawad, who was visiting Lebanon to care for his elderly mother, and Samar Sayyed, who was killed when her home was hit by an Israeli missile, according to her sister Sandra Sayyed, who resides with their mother, Hayat Jaafari, in Dearborn.

Whitmer’s letter came as many elected officials in Michigan called for swift action to evacuate American citizens, while also urging an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Middle East. Michigan State Representative Abbas Farhat issued a statement on Monday expressing his concerns about the challenges facing American citizens trying to leave Lebanon amid rising risks and travel costs.

The statement, signed by nearly 30 elected officials from southeastern Michigan, home to the second-largest Arab community in the United States according to the 2020 Census, highlighted that Lebanese Americans make up about a quarter of this population, with most residing in Wayne County.

Meanwhile, Rep. Tlaib criticized a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Beirut over the past weekend, which noted that no evacuations would be arranged for American citizens because “commercial flights are available.”

Tlaib, who created a page titled “Evacuation Assistance” on her website, explained in a social media post that she informed the U.S. State Department that the high cost of airline tickets prevents many Americans from leaving Lebanon, to which the State Department responded: “We will provide them with loans.”

Tlaib wrote, “One of the core missions of the U.S. State Department is to protect Americans… They are failing again… The desperate calls coming into my office are heartbreaking”, referencing officials’ lack of response to her pleas for help for Americans wanting to leave Lebanon due to the escalating situation.

Tlaib posted on her Instagram page Wednesday that around 148 Americans from her district remain stranded in Lebanon.

US. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D–Ann Arbor) also urged the U.S. State Department to take swift action to evacuate American citizens. In a letter to Secretary Blinken last Tuesday, she wrote, “I request that the State Department double its efforts to assist Americans wishing to leave due to the unpredictable nature of the conflict in Lebanon.”

Additionally, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D–Holly) pointed out on Wednesday that airline tickets have become “extremely rare and expensive” for more than 6,000 American citizens in Lebanon, who have filled out the assistance form made available by the State Department since Sunday. Slotkin wrote on social media, “The U.K. has begun chartering flights for its citizens, and it’s time for the U.S. to do the same.”

Spokesman Matthew Miller said 134 American citizens and family members left Beirut for Istanbul, Turkey, on Thursday. That’s in addition to more than 100 who left on a similar flight Wednesday.

Miller said the U.S. would continue to organize such flights as long the security situation in Lebanon is dire and as long as there is demand.

More than 6,000 American citizens have contacted the U.S. Embassy in Beirut seeking information about leaving the country over the past week since the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has escalated.

Miller said the U.S. Embassy in Beirut is prepared to offer loans to those Americans who choose to remain in Lebanon but want to relocate to a potentially safer area of the country.

The embassy is also prepared to provide loans to Americans who wish to leave on U.S.-contracted flights.