4 Republicans join Democrat effort to shield 350,000 Haitians from deportation
Four Republican lawmakers joined Democrats’ effort to keep 350,000 Haitians from losing their deportation protections.
Haiti was initially designated as a country with Temporary Protected Status by the Obama administration in 2010, following an earthquake that killed over 200,000 people and injured another 300,000. The administration contended that the 18-month designation was necessary because Haiti’s critical infrastructure had been severely impacted.
'For more than a year, my bill to extend TPS for Haiti has sat without a vote in the House of Representatives. That’s unacceptable.'
Following that initial designation, Haiti’s TPS status was extended and redesignated many times, with officials citing national disaster recovery, gang violence, and instability.
Under President Donald Trump, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem terminated TPS for Haiti, announcing that the designation would expire in February 2026.
The DHS estimated that roughly 353,000 Haitian nationals and other foreign nationals who last resided in Haiti hold TPS.
Noem’s DHS declared that “there are no extraordinary and temporary conditions in Haiti that prevent Haitian nationals (or aliens having no nationality who last habitually resided in Haiti) from returning in safety.”
“Moreover, even if the Department found that there existed conditions that were extraordinary and temporary that prevented Haitian nationals ... from returning in safety, termination of Temporary Protected Status of Haiti is still required because it is contrary to the national interest of the United States to permit Haitian nationals ... to remain temporarily in the United States,” the DHS stated.
However, in February, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia stayed the termination, allowing the TPS designation to remain in effect.
Rep. Laura Gillen (D-N.Y.) previously introduced H.R. 1689, a bill that would require DHS to designate Haiti for TPS for 18 months.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) presented a discharge petition in January to compel the House to vote on Gillen’s bill.
On Friday, the discharge petition received exactly the 218 House signatures required to move forward, after four Republicans — Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar (Fla.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Penn.), Mike Lawler (N.Y.), and Don Bacon (Neb.) — joined Democrats in signing it.
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“Throughout the nation, Haitians are parents, workers, caregivers, faith leaders, business owners, and children who are deeply rooted in our communities, essential to our economy, and are shamefully at risk of being deported to an island grappling with a devastating humanitarian crisis," Pressley stated. "Today we are a critical step closer to saving lives and delivering the protections they deserve."
The House will vote on Pressley’s discharge resolution within the coming weeks. If it passes, lawmakers will hold a vote on H.R. 1689.
Lawler, who co-sponsored H.R. 1689, referred to the bill as “bipartisan legislation," insisting that the situation in Haiti remains "dire" due to "rampant gang violence, political instability, and a worsening humanitarian crisis."
“For more than a year, my bill to extend TPS for Haiti has sat without a vote in the House of Representatives. That’s unacceptable," Lawler stated after signing Pressley’s petition.
Salazar also released a statement in response to her decision to support the discharge petition.
“From Haiti to Venezuela, we have to get this right,” Salazar wrote in a post on social media. “TPS exists for a reason, to protect people who cannot safely return home.”
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Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.)Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
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