WASHINGTON — A bipartisan coalition of U.S. lawmakers on Friday secured the 218th signature needed to force a House vote on a resolution directing the Biden administration to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian nationals, according to congressional staff familiar with the petition.
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) added her name shortly before noon, triggering a rarely used discharge procedure that bypasses committee leadership and obliges the chamber to take up the measure within seven legislative days. Four Republicans — Reps. María Elvira Salazar (Fla.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Mike Lawler (N.Y.) and David Valadao (Calif.) — also signed, giving the petition the minimum margin required for success.
TPS shields roughly 150,000 Haitians in the United States from deportation and permits them to work legally. Current protections are set to expire in August, and advocates argue that deteriorating security, political paralysis and a spiraling humanitarian crisis in Port-au-Prince make safe repatriation impossible. “Conditions on the ground have only worsened,” said a House Democratic aide, citing recent gang violence and fuel shortages.
Discharge petitions are an infrequent tactic; the last successful effort reached the floor in 2015. Under House Rule XV, once the Clerk certifies the signatures, leadership must schedule the underlying resolution for debate and a vote no later than the seventh legislative day thereafter. A senior GOP leadership aide acknowledged the procedural obligation but called the maneuver “a partisan end-run around regular order.”
The Department of Homeland Security last reviewed Haiti’s TPS designation in December, when officials extended relief for 18 months but did not commit beyond that window. A DHS spokesperson said the agency “continues to monitor country conditions” but would not comment on pending legislation.
Analysts say the petition’s success underscores growing bipartisan unease over Haiti’s collapse and mounting political pressure ahead of the U.S. election cycle. “Republicans in swing districts with large Caribbean communities could benefit from supporting TPS,” noted Carlos Suárez, a migration policy fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
If the House ultimately passes the resolution, attention will shift to the Senate, where Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) would have to decide whether to bring a companion measure to the floor. In the meantime, immigrant-rights groups are gearing up for an aggressive lobbying campaign, while conservative caucus members warn the move could encourage further migration. The outcome could set a precedent for using discharge petitions on other immigration bills stalled in committee.