In a rare bipartisan vote, the U.S. House on Thursday passed legislation that would extend temporary protected status for Haitian immigrants by three years, setting up a showdown with the Senate and President Donald Trump. The House vote was 224-204, and the bill relied on support from Democrats along with 10 Republicans, according to the Associated Press.
The measure is designed to protect Haitians already living lawfully in the United States who have temporary legal status, including hundreds of thousands of people who would otherwise face deportation. The bill would require the Trump administration to extend that temporary protected status for three years, rather than allowing the program to end, the AP reported.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a Massachusetts Democrat and co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus, spoke during the debate about the role Haitians play in U.S. communities and the risks Haitians would face if deported. Pressley said she “know[s] firsthand how important our Haitian neighbors are to our communities, to our civic life, to our culture, to our workforce, to our economy,” and she argued that Haitians with temporary legal status “are not the problem, quite the contrary, they are part of the solution,” the AP reported.
Pressley also linked the bill to the conditions in Haiti, contending that deporting Haitians back would be a “death sentence” because of the effects of natural disasters and gang violence. In a news conference outside the Capitol, Haitian Bridge Alliance executive director Guerline Jozef said the community was facing fear of deportations, asking, “We are asking, where will you be on the right side of history?” and adding that lawmakers should not continue “to cause trauma to people who are asking for nothing other than safety and protection,” according to the Associated Press.
As Congress took up the legislation, the AP said the effort unfolded while the administration worked to end temporary legal status for several groups. The AP reported that in less than two weeks, the Supreme Court was set to consider a fast-track case that could end protected status for Haitian and Syrian immigrants, and that the administration filed emergency appeals after lower courts halted an immediate end of the program.
The AP said the protections at issue for Haiti were first approved after a devastating 2010 earthquake and have been extended multiple times. The AP also said the State Department has warned Americans not to travel to Haiti due to kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, and civil unrest.
Republicans split in their views, with 10 members joining all Democrats and one independent for the House vote, the AP reported. Supporters included Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, who said Haitian immigrants are vital to his community and argued that those residents should not be forced out; he told the chamber that Haitian immigrants are “small business owners, they are nurses, they are caregivers, they participate in our economy and take care of American citizens,” and that “Congress has a responsibility to act,” the AP reported.
Not all Republicans backed the bill. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, criticized the approach and argued that Democrats were working toward permanent status, saying “Make temporary permanent,” the AP reported. Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, characterized the program as a “backdoor amnesty,” while Rep. Tom McClintock, R-California, argued the temporary status granted under the Obama administration had become an “an open-ended invitation” for immigrants to enter and remain, the AP reported.
The AP said the vote also reflected a growing use of discharge petitions, a tool that forces a bill to the House floor over objections from the speaker and GOP leaders. The AP said Pressley’s discharge effort won support on the initial petition from four Republicans and gained additional backing after the bill reached the floor for the final vote.