House Democrats Force a Floor Vote on Restoring TPS for Haiti

A Democratic-led discharge petition gained enough votes over the weekend to force a House vote on extending temporary deportation protections for Haitian migrants that the Trump administration has tried to end.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley introduced the discharge petition earlier this year, gaining the support of Republican Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar, Brian Fitzpatrick, Mike Lawler and Don Bacon. Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez was the petition’s final and 218th signature Friday night.

The successful discharge petition pulls the bill out of the Rules Committee and places it in front of the full House for a vote. If passed, the measure would extend Haiti’s designation under the Temporary Protected Status program for three years.

“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 said in a Saturday press release. “Today we are a critical step closer to saving lives and delivering the protections they deserve.”

President Donald Trump directed the Department of Homeland Security to halt TPS for more than 350,000 Haitian migrants last year, but a federal judge in February blocked the order from taking effect.

The Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court earlier this month, arguing the conditions on the island no longer constitute the need for protected status. The State Department currently designates the country a “Level 4 - Do Not Travel” risk “due to kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, and limited health care.”

Since the 2010 earthquake that decimated the small island nation, the United States has offered TPS to the more than 1.6 million people who were displaced by the natural disaster. The island has struggled to recover and more than a decade later struggles with the highest rates of acute food insecurity in the world.

The resolution would direct DHS to extend Haiti’s designation for TPS through Jan. 20, 2029.

“It’s a major win, but it isn’t over,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz posted to X.

Once gaining enough votes, discharge petitions must undergo a seven-day waiting period before the measure can be stand for a vote on the House floor. In her release, Pressley said the petition “is set to be voted on within the coming weeks.”