Ten House Republicans sided with Democrats late Thursday to pass a resolution extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for some 350,000 Haitians living in the United States.
The lower chamber passed the bill – which would require the secretary of Homeland Security to designate Haiti for TPS through 2029 – by a vote of 224-204, with 10 GOP representatives crossing the aisle. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Don Bacon (R-NE) Maria Salazar (R-FL), Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Rich McCormick (R-GA), Mike Turner (R-OH), Mike Carey (R-OH), and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) all voted yes. Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-CA), an independent who caucuses with Republicans, also voted in favor.
The Democrat-led measure made it to the floor despite the GOP majority after Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) successfully rallied support for a discharge petition to force a vote. The discharge petition garnered the necessary 218 signatures at the end of March, with Republicans Bacon, Fitzpatrick, Lawler, and Salazar lending their support at the time.
Pressley has argued that “one in four of our long-term healthcare workers are Haitian” and “one in five of our healthcare workers are Haitian,” so disrupting TPS protections would have an adverse effect on the healthcare system. That was the logic Republicans like Lawler and Malliotakis used to defend their votes on the measure.
The Legal Battle
Haitians here under TPS are currently in legal limbo after the Trump administration moved to terminate the status for Haiti, but a federal court stepped in to block the move earlier this year.
Since 1990, Temporary Protected Status allows foreign nationals from countries facing armed conflict, natural disaster, or other unsafe conditions to live and work in the U.S. for a certain period of time. TPS for Haiti was first initiated in January 2010 following the devastating earthquake that struck the country. The designation was extended multiple times, most recently under the Biden administration in 2021. It was set to expire February 3, 2026, and the Trump administration announced last summer that it would allow the status to end.
The White House argued conditions in the country have improved and granting Haitians legal protections runs counter to American interests. But a group of Haitians in the U.S. under TPS sued the administration, and a federal judge indefinitely postponed the termination a day before it was set to expire in February. The Trump administration appealed the decision, and the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear the case later this month.
Political Fallout
The House measure is largely symbolic, as Senate Republicans are not expected to hold a vote on renewing TPS for Haitians and the White House has stated President Donald Trump would veto any extension bill that reaches his desk.
But the behavior of the 10 GOP representatives appears to be in line with a general shift in how Republicans are talking about immigration ahead of the midterms. On Friday’s show, Megyn did not mince words as she called out the aisle-crossing group and explained why their votes are a betrayal to the agenda Trump ran on in 2024. Watch:
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 1,298 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.