The House delivered a stark rebuke to President Trump’s immigration policy on Thursday by voting to grant Temporary Protected Status to Haitians in the U.S., reviving a deportation amnesty to some 350,000 migrants.
Mr. Trump’s administration had canceled the protective status earlier this year. The new bill would not only restore it, but also extend it into the early part of 2029, putting it beyond the reach of this administration.
The legislation passed on a 224-204 vote, with 10 Republicans joining Democrats to deliver the support. Democrats celebrated the rare victory on an issue where they had been playing defense in recent years.
“This is a hopeful moment for so many across the country, to take a positive step forward on immigration policy in America after so much darkness,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the Washington Democrat who led the debate on the measure.
The bill faces a tougher hill in the Senate, where even if it reached the chamber floor, it would likely need to survive a filibuster.
It would also likely face an eventual Trump veto.
Not only has the president been on a push to reel in the expansive use of TPS by the Biden administration, which added a million people to the ranks of the protected, but also the Haitians in particular have been a target for Mr. Trump.
During the 2024 campaign, he claimed — largely without basis — that Haitian migrants in Ohio were eating residents’ pets.
The fact that the House voted against Mr. Trump’s wishes, though, underscores the touchiness of immigration politics right now.
TPS amounts to a stay of deportation, entitles recipients to some taxpayer benefits and the chance to earn a work permit and compete for jobs.
It’s supposed to be used in cases where a country faces war, political instability or epidemic, or has suffered a natural disaster, and where it would be rough to force citizens to return home. TPS gives the nations a chance to recover and gives the migrants a space to wait it out.
TPS generally lasts for 18 months, though it can be renewed.
In reality, it has become a backdoor immigration system.
Hundreds of thousands of Central Americans have been living here under TPS since the turn of the century. And tens of thousands of the Haitians covered now have been living here since the 2010 earthquake.
The first Trump administration tried to reel in Haiti’s TPS but was blocked in the courts. The Biden administration then expanded TPS for Haiti, adding some 300,000 people to its ranks — most of them illegal immigrants who took advantage of lax border controls under that White House.
Mr. Trump moved to rein it back in — again meeting resistance in the courts.
The Supreme Court is slated to hear oral argument on that case, and another involving TPS for Syrians, in two weeks.
The justices previously let the administration wind down an even bigger TPS for Venezuelans.
Under President Joe Biden, the number of TPS holders went from about 400,000 in late 2020 to about 1.3 million in early 2025.
Mr. Trump has moved to cancel TPS for more than a million of those migrants. Some could still try to earn another legal status, though most would instantly become illegal immigrants once again subject to deportation.
Republican leaders complained that the new bill for Haitians would give Congress’ imprimatur to the broken border under Mr. Biden.
“First, let in 10 million illegal immigrants during the Biden administration. Then create sanctuary jurisdictions where it becomes difficult to do any removal,” said Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican. “Then defund ICE — the guys who do the removal — and now, today, make temporary permanent.”
Republicans also pointed to a homicide case out of Florida where a mother was slain in a brutal attack with a hammer. The man charged with the slaying is Rolbert Joachin, who came to the U.S. in 2022 despite the lack of a legal visa, was given catch-and-release, then ordered removed.
The Biden administration then approved him for TPS, though it expired in 2024.
“How many more Americans do we need to see get murdered?” said Rep. Chip Roy, Texas Republican.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts Democrat, countered with her own example of a woman, Rebecca, who suffered through the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, then faced multiple kidnapping attempts before fleeing to the U.S.
Thanks to TPS, Rebecca is now a certified nursing assistant.
Indeed, Democrats said many of the Haitian TPS holders work as health aides, holding down jobs Americans generally eschew.
TPS can apply to those here on temporary legal visas, meaning they don’t have to go home when their visa expires. But for the most part, it covers illegal immigrants.
A Judiciary Committee study calculated that 90% of Haitians covered by TPS lacked a legal visa to be in the U.S.
In the Senate, Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, doubted the bill will have legs.
He pointed out that immigration legislation from both sides of the aisle has struggled in recent years.
“It’s hard to move any kind of legislation,” he said.
The Republicans who joined Democrats were Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska; Mario Diaz-Balart, Maria Salazar and Carlos Gimenez of Florida; Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania; Mike Carey and Mike Turner of Ohio; Rich McCormick of Georgia; and Nicole Malliotakis and Mike Lawler of New York.
Mr. Lawler said a large percentage of Haiti’s population is already in the U.S., and they’re here because they have to be.
“The situation on the ground in Haiti is a disaster,” he said.
He said he believed the bill to be a temporary measure to give Haiti a chance at stability and the U.S. a chance to decide on longer-term solutions for the population.
• Kerry Picket contributed to this story.
