Washington Democrats are carrying on with their “illegals first” campaign with sneaky attempts to extend Temporary Protected Status for Haitian migrants.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, this week fast-tracked a House-approved bill that would extend TPS for Haitian migrants for three years and added it onto the Senate schedule.
Ultimately, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, will decide whether it actually reaches the floor for a vote. And even if it does, Republicans plan to kill it. President Donald Trump has said he would veto the bill.
Senate Republicans blasted the move, saying it’s another example of Schumer bowing down to progressives and prioritizing illegal immigrants.
Democrats are still pushing the bill after a gruesome hammer attack by an illegal immigrant from Haiti, who was charged with killing a female gas station clerk in Fort Myers, Florida, in early April. The suspect, Rolbert Joachin, 40, reportedly received TPS status during the Biden administration.
In a Fox News Digital report, Sen. Katie Britt, R-Alabama, who led negotiations for Senate Republicans to end the U.S. Department of Homeland Security shutdown, told the outlet, “I’m so glad that he is prioritizing people who are not American consistently.”
Britt pointed out “the countless Americans that have died at the hands of illegal aliens” and the fact that Democrats, led by Schumer, want to defund the agencies that keep the country’s borders and waterways safe and enforce immigration law so they can return to open borders.
“It’s just totally, his priorities are completely and totally off,” Britt said.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted on April 16 to extend temporary protected status for more than 350,000 Haitian migrants through 2029. The vote was split 224-204, with 10 Republicans joining with Democrats to pass the resolution.
The Trump administration has tried to terminate the protected status of foreign nationals from a dozen countries, including Haiti, Somalia, Nicaragua, Honduras and Venezuela, but officials have been met with resistance and legal battles.
TPS gives eligible foreign nationals temporary protections in the United States, usually due to armed conflict, humanitarian crises, national disasters or other unsafe conditions in their home country.
Those who qualify can live, work and receive social security numbers in the U.S. legally for 6- to 18-month renewable periods. The status protects them from deportation and gives them work authorization, but it does not provide a pathway to citizenship.
Haitians were granted protections in 2010 under then-President Obama following a devastating earthquake that displaced 1.5 million people.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a notice to revoke the status for Haitians, saying the country “no longer meets the conditions” for TPS. DHS said conditions have improved in the country and there is “nothing preventing refugees” from returning to the Caribbean nation.
Trump officials have also said that its “contrary to the national interest of the United States” to allow them to remain.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has noted that TPS status was meant to be temporary—not a renewable protection that lasts for decades.
“Unfortunately, TPS turns into a permanent status,” Mullin recently said on FOX News’ “The Ingraham Angle.” “We have people that’s been here for 30 years and then when we say we’re gonna end protected status for you they end up coming in saying wait a second it’s inhumane because we are married we have family kids grandkids work now send back home.”
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Massachusetts, a member of the “Squad,” led the effort and used a congressional procedure called a discharge petition to force a vote to the floor last week.
Congresswoman Laura Gillen, D-New York, sponsored the resolution on the House floor. Gillen co-sponsored the bipartisan bill with Rep. Mike Lawler, R-New York, and issued a press release with left-leaning media headlines supporting the measure.
Forcing Haitians in the United States to return there now would be, in Gillen’s words, “cruel” and “a human catastrophe.” Her Long Island district includes a significant Haitian population.
“It’s cruel to expect Haitians to be forced to return to these deadly, dangerous conditions,” Gillen said at a news conference. “Human lives are at risk.”
The Republicans who voted for the measure are from districts considered competitive in the upcoming midterm election, including in New York, NPR reported. Many in that cohort have large Haitian diaspora communities in their districts.
Multiple GOP Senators have now posted that the House-passed Haitian TPS extension is dead on arrival in the Senate.
SCOTUS will hear arguments on the Trump administration's efforts to terminate TPS for Haiti at the end of the month.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) April 17, 2026
Those Republicans included Reps. Mike Lawler and Nicole Malliotakis of New York; Maria Elvira Salazar, Mario Diaz-Balart and Carlos Gimenez of Florida; Don Bacon of Nebraska; Rich McCormick of Georgia; Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania; and Mike Carey and Mike Turner of Ohio.
Lawler has said Haitian immigrants contribute largely to the health care industry in his district. Haitian immigrants have become vital to his community and “forcing them out would be unjust and unwise.”
Republicans who oppose the bill, including Chip Roy and Rep. Brandon Gill, both from Texas, have said 65% of Haitians are in households that receive welfare and the rubber-stamped TPS renewal has made their status “effectively permanent.”
Ranking Member @RepGregoryMeeks joined @RepJeffries in a meeting with Prime Minister Fils-Aimé to discuss developments in Haiti. The leaders addressed the deployment of the UN's Gang Suppression Force, efforts to advance a credible justice system, and the importance of securing… pic.twitter.com/L4CouTCBca
— House Foreign Affairs Committee Dems (@HouseForeign) April 23, 2026
In a statement to NPR, the White House said “This terrible bill is going nowhere and there has been a veto threat issued. The administration is focused on enforcing federal immigration law and putting American citizens first.”
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, also shot down any notion that the bill stands a chance in the upper chamber, flashing a zero sign by connecting his index finger and thumb.
“Zero point zero,” Moreno told Fox News Digital. “Schumer is all illegals first, it’s crazy.”
