The House will soon vote on a bill to stop the Trump administration from ending temporary deportation protections for Haitian migrants after Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s (D-Mass.) discharge petition hit 218 signatures.
Four Republicans — Reps. Mike Lawler (N.Y.), Maria Elvira Salazar (Fla.), Don Bacon (Neb.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) — joined with Democrats on the discharge petition.
The petition forces a vote on Rep. Laura Gillen’s (D-N.Y.) and Lawler’s bill to direct DHS to designate Haiti for temporary protective status (TPS) until 2029.
“This is a life-saving measure,” Gillen told us. “To send these people back to Haiti right now would be tantamount almost to a death sentence.”
Behind the scenes. Pressley’s team began preparing for an effort to protect Haiti’s TPS designation after President Donald Trump’s election, given Trump’s political attacks on Haitians during the 2024 campaign. Pressley, the co-chair of the Congressional Haiti Caucus, met with Republicans to warn about the negative economic impacts of mass deportations of Haitians who work as home health care workers.
Pressley’s team chose the Gillen-Lawler bill as the vehicle because it resembled a bill sponsored by now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he was in the Senate.
“Extending TPS for Haiti is not just the right thing to do — it’s also good policy, ensuring that our TPS holders can continue their essential work and contributions across the country,” Pressley said in a statement.
Where things stand. Pressley’s discharge petition hit 218 signatures on March 27. There’s now a seven-legislative day waiting period until Pressley can give notice of intent to offer a motion to discharge.
Speaker Mike Johnson then has a two-legislative day window to schedule a vote on the discharge. If the House votes to discharge, the chamber will be able to vote on final passage of the Haiti TPS bill that same day.
The Trump administration has sought to remove Haiti’s TPS designation, arguing that conditions in Haiti no longer warrant deportation protections for migrants in the United States. After a federal judge paused the TPS cancellation in February, the Trump administration on March 11 asked the Supreme Court to intervene to end Haiti’s TPS.
Discharge central. This is the fifth time there’s been a successful discharge in the razor-thin GOP House majority this Congress. Democrats have forced votes on the ACA tax credits extension, the release of the Epstein files, federal workers’ union rights and proxy voting for expectant mothers and fathers.
We’ll note that House passage doesn’t guarantee Senate passage or even a vote. But it will allow senators who support the measure to push it in that chamber, and the political repercussions will be felt beyond Washington.
