The House voted Wednesday to advance a measure that would reinstate temporary protections for Haitians living in the U.S., with six Republicans voting alongside Democrats to oppose a key component of President Donald Trump's immigration policy.
The measure, brought forward through a parliamentary move known as a discharge petition by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus, won a key procedural vote to advance to a final vote set for Thursday. The legislation seeks to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to eligible Haitian immigrants for three years.
“This is a critical step forward in our fight for immigrant justice and delivering our Haitian neighbors the protections they deserve—and it’s a testament to the strength of our broad, diverse, and bipartisan coalition,” Pressley said in a statement, adding that she was "grateful" to her Republican colleagues who voted for the measure.
The legislation was first introduced in the Republican-controlled House by Reps. Laura Gillen, D-N.Y., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., last year.
"The State Department claims it is too dangerous for American citizens to go to Haiti because of kidnapping, gang violence and widespread chaos, but yet, the administration has said it's safe for Haitians to return there," Gillen said Wednesday on the House floor.
She said that "removing our neighbors would not just be a humanitarian catastrophe; it would hurt our economy," adding that Haitian immigrants "work in critical sectors like health care, education, caregiving, supporting our elderly and working in local hospitals."
Temporary Protected Status allows foreign nationals from countries facing war, environmental disasters or other unsafe conditions to live and word in the U.S. for a certain time.
The Trump administration tried to terminate the Temporary Protected Status of about 350,000 Haitian immigrants last summer, but a federal judge halted the move. The administration appealed the decision shortly after the judge indefinitely postponed the terminations in an order in February. It is expected to be heard by the Supreme Court this month.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday's vote.
The House voted 219-209 on the discharge petition to force a vote on Lawler and Gillen's bill, with Republican Reps. María Elvira Salazar and Carlos A. Gimenez of Florida, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Don Bacon of Nebraska and Lawler and Nicole Malliotakis of New York voting in favor alongside 212 Democrats and one independent. Members can use discharge petitions to get around leadership that is opposed to holding votes on legislation.
"Removing TPS status for Haitians living in the United States would cost 350,000 workers their ability to work at a time when we’re already facing serious workforce shortages," Bacon said on X. "I don’t see the goodness of deporting people who are here legally, working, and contributing to our country."
He added that he has heard from health care providers and business leaders across Nebraska who are raising the alarm over the impact deporting Haitian immigrants could have on patient care and the economy.
Malliotakis said in her own post that her office has heard from nursing homes in her New York district "that will lose skilled and dedicated nursing staff if TPS is not renewed."
"These are Haitian immigrants who are working, paying taxes and contributing to our economy and fulfilling a healthcare need. To strip them of their status and deport them to a country in peril would be uncompassionate and misguided," she wrote.
The vote comes less than a week after Trump posted a graphic video in which a man smashes an SUV parked outside a gas station in Florida with a hammer before he uses the hammer to attack a woman who left the store to confront him. The man beat the woman and then fled, according to the Fort Myers Police Department arrest report. First responders pronounced the woman dead. A suspect, identified as Rolbert Joachin, was later arrested and charged with homicide. Following the attack, the Department of Homeland Security said Joachin is an undocumented immigrant from Haiti.
Trump blamed Democrats in Congress, "Deranged Liberal District Court Judges" and the Biden administration on Truth Social for supporting policies that he claims allowed Joachin to receive Temporary Protected Status.
