House Passes Bill Extending Haitian Temporary Protected Status Despite GOP Leadership Opposition
Ten Republicans joined Democrats to pass legislation extending temporary legal status for 350,000 Haitians, dealing a rare setback to Trump’s deportation campaign.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House passed legislation Thursday that would extend Temporary Protected Status for Haiti for three years, challenging President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts as ten Republicans broke ranks to support the measure.
The bill succeeded by a vote of 224-204, with Republican defectors including Reps. Maria Salazar, Mario Díaz-Balart and Carlos Giménez of Florida, Rich McCormick of Georgia, Don Bacon of Nebraska, Mike Lawler and Nicole Malliotakis of New York, Mike Turner and Mike Carey of Ohio, and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. Rep. Kevin Kiley, a California independent who caucuses with the GOP, also voted for the legislation.
The measure would affect approximately 350,000 Haitians currently living in the United States under the temporary protection program, which shields nationals from countries experiencing ongoing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary circumstances from deportation.
Discharge Petition Forces Vote
The legislation reached the House floor through a procedural maneuver called a discharge petition, which allows bills to bypass Republican leadership and proceed directly to a vote once 218 House members sign on. Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley, co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus, initiated the petition in January.
The petition gained the necessary 218 signatures in late March, forcing a floor vote on legislation originally introduced by New York Democratic Rep. Laura Gillen. Under the bill’s provisions, the Secretary of Homeland Security would be required to extend TPS protections for Haitian nationals.
Pressley spoke at a press conference Tuesday outside the U.S. Capitol alongside House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, Rep. Laura Gillen, GOP Rep. Mike Lawler, and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke to build support for the measure.
Senate Battle Ahead
The legislation now advances to the GOP-controlled Senate, where its prospects remain uncertain despite the House passage. Even if the Senate approves the measure, President Trump would almost certainly veto the bill, given his administration’s ongoing efforts to revoke legal protections for TPS recipients as part of broader immigration enforcement initiatives.
The Trump administration has actively sought to eliminate Temporary Protected Status designations for various countries, including Haiti, as part of the president’s campaign promise to conduct mass deportations of immigrants without legal status.
The bipartisan support in the House represents one of the few successful challenges to Trump’s immigration agenda from the Republican-led Congress since he began his second term in January. The defection of ten GOP members highlights growing tensions within the party over the administration’s hardline immigration policies.
