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This section captures a floor statement or debate entry. It mentions legislation such as Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 1689) to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate Haiti for temporary protected status., members such as Tom McClintock.
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April 16, 2026
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Download official House Record PDFReturn to issue contextThe SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 965, the House will proceed to the immediate consideration of the bill (H.R. 1689) to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate Haiti for temporary protected status, which the Clerk will report by title.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 965, the amendment in the nature of a substitute specified in section 4 of that resolution, shall be considered as adopted and the bill, as amended, is considered read.
The text of the bill, as amended, is as follows:
H.R. 1689
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF HAITI FOR TEMPORARY PROTECTED
STATUS.
“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary
of Homeland Security shall designate Haiti for temporary
protected status until the date that is 3 months after
January 20, 2029.”.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill, as amended, shall be debated for 1 hour equally divided and controlled by the majority leader and minority leader or their respective designees.
The gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock) and the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Jayapal) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
General Leave
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 1689.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, for 4 years, our Nation suffered the largest illegal, mass migration in history at the hands of the Democrats. The cost to our country is immense: hospitals overrun with illegals demanding care; food pantries and homeless shelters overwhelmed; classrooms packed with non-English speaking students; rampant child, sex, and labor trafficking; hundreds of thousands of Americans dead from fentanyl overdoses; suppressed wages for working families; billions in welfare costs to support this population; and, worst of all, the introduction of the most violent criminals and criminal gangs and cartels in the world into our communities.
our existing immigration laws. Illegal border crossings immediately plunged more
than 95 percent. The largest illegal mass migration in history is now being followed by the largest legal deportation in history, although the Democrats are doing everything they can to obstruct it.
so-called temporary protected status. It proved Ronald Reagan's maxim that there is nothing more permanent on this Earth than a temporary government program.
provide temporary residency to legal aliens who happened to be visiting here when a disaster in their own country temporarily prevented their safe return. The Democrats turned this temporary program into an open- ended and unconditional invitation for aliens to illegally enter our country and then remain indefinitely.
just 4 years as aliens illegally entered our country in order to claim this status.
power to extend temporary status as Biden did, it also gives the President the power to withdraw that status when it is no longer applicable or in the interests of our country, as this President has done.
in this country when Haiti suffered an earthquake in 2010. For 16 years, this status has persisted in different iterations, including multiple designations, redesignations, and extensions.
has attempted to end this temporary status for Haiti, noting that allowing hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens to reside in our country indefinitely is counter to our national interests. The vast majority of these TPS beneficiaries under Biden did not enter the country legally only to find themselves stranded by unfortunate events, rather they entered our country illegally to claim such status, encouraged, aided, and abetted by the Democrats in power.
last year, of the roughly 340,000 Haitian TPS holders, 312,000, 91 percent, came to the United States illegally. Their reward for committing this crime was a work permit and indefinite protection from deportation; and, yes, illegal entry into this country is a Federal crime.
{time} 1250
410,000 when Biden took office to nearly 1.5 million aliens from 16 different countries by the day he left office.
such as Logansport, Indiana; Springfield, Illinois; and Charleroi, Pennsylvania, cried out for help. Charleroi's population of 4,000 swelled to 7,000 almost overnight as a flood of Haitian nationals took up residence.
The little town was forced to spend $400,000 for English language instructors and $1 million overall just to support the influx of students. This was all taken from the resources that would otherwise have been available to their own students.
took testimony last year from a local official there, who told us of severe strains on housing, medical care, education, emergency services, law enforcement services, and other social services. He testified to a dramatic increase in traffic collisions and citizens of this peaceful, small town now afraid to walk the streets.
The Trump administration has heeded the cries of the American people. Since taking office, the President has moved to withdraw TPS status for foreign nationals whose conditions no longer warrant such status. In other cases, the Trump administration has determined that these TPS designations are simply not in our Nation's self-interest.
Nationality Act, but today my Democratic colleagues argue that we should ignore all of this, that we should return to the Biden administration's immigration policies, starting with Haitian TPS. If this bill passes, I think we can expect TPS status to be extended to the millions more who wish to exploit our country and its taxpayers.
aliens from Haiti pouring across the southwest border and crowding under the bridge in Del Rio, Texas. Put simply, this bill would serve as de facto amnesty for hundreds of thousands of aliens from Haiti who illegally poured across our southern border. America does not need to relive that nightmare, and that is a choice.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose the bill today, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1689 to designate Haiti for temporary protected status, or TPS, and I thank Representatives Pressley and Gillen for their incredible tenacity and leadership in building the bipartisan coalition needed to get this bill to the floor. 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.
people who are already in the United States a safe haven when their home countries are devastated by armed conflict, natural disaster, or other extraordinary conditions. TPS is built on the simple idea that America should not force people back to deadly and life-threatening conditions, a principle that has guided both Republican and Democratic administrations for decades.
commitment to our core values, attempting to end TPS for countries where the conditions are still incredibly dangerous.
first term is Haiti. The President has called Haiti a S-hole country and cruelly attempted to end its TPS designation during his first term. Luckily, that was stopped by the lower courts, but the threat remains.
TPS for Haiti will be heard by the Supreme Court. Today, over 350,000 Haitians have TPS. It would be unconscionable to send them back to Haiti, an action that would lead to people's deaths. That goes against everything this country is supposed to stand for.
that has resulted in instability all over the country. Our own State Department has issued a Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory for Haiti. They say that individuals should not travel to Haiti due to “kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, and limited healthcare.” The country has been in a state of emergency since March of 2024. Terminating TPS means the United States of America is forcing people to return to real and imminent harm, even death.
or for other TPS holders, Mr. Speaker. It is also about what benefits Americans. Despite all the lies and misinformation spread by this administration and its rightwing echo chamber, TPS broadly, and Haitian TPS holders specifically, are good for our communities and our economy.
to contribute to our economy. Haitian TPS recipients, in particular, regularly work in industries that are currently experiencing severe labor shortages, like construction and hospitality and healthcare.
making up one in five nursing assistants, personal care aides, and home health aides. These workers keep our economy running, helping businesses that struggle to fill jobs. They pay taxes, support local businesses, and contribute billions of dollars to our economy every single year.
Each year, TPS holders from Haiti who reside in the U.S. earn $3.9 billion in total household income. They pay a total of $983.9 million in taxes, including $600.8 million in Federal taxes and $383.1 million in State and local taxes, and they hold $2.9 billion in spending power.
years. They have followed our laws, paid their taxes, and demonstrated their commitment to this country. Instead of stripping them of legal status and sending them back to dangerous conditions, we should be providing them with a path to long-term stability.
“worst of the worst,” but instead his administration has been moving forward their real goal: Ending all legal immigration to this country. Just a few days ago, the conservative CATO Institute published a report showing that Trump has cut legal immigration by 2.5 times as much as undocumented immigration since coming into office this term.
Trump took office, because the Biden administration expanded the legal pathways that people had to be here with legal presence, work and contribute. However, instead of maintaining that, Trump and Stephen Miller have done everything possible to destroy all legal immigration to this country, including eliminating TPS.
H.R. 1689 provides a glimmer of hope to immigrant communities across the country, starting with Haitians. It tells them that we value their work and contributions to our country. It tells them that we won't send them to their deaths. It tells them that America still welcomes the huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote “yes,” and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman tells us that Haitian TPS recipients contribute to our society. Well, no doubt some do. Overall, though, nearly 53 percent of Haitian households are on at least one major welfare program. Let me repeat that so that it sinks in. More than half of Haitian households are on welfare. That means they are taking from our society, not contributing to it.
illegal immigrant costs taxpayers between $87,000 and $110,000 to support over a lifetime. That is a net drain after you account for the taxes that they pay. That is a minimum $27 billion cost to American taxpayers to maintain this population.
We are told many Haitian nationals fill healthcare jobs. Well, yes, they take healthcare jobs that would otherwise be filled by Americans. If Americans aren't taking those jobs, it is because cheap, migrant labor is suppressing wages in those sectors. That is why working families lost ground under the Biden administration.
again beginning to rise. This bill takes us a giant step backward for Americans, and that shouldn't surprise anyone who saw the Democrats' reaction on this floor when President Trump suggested that the first responsibility of this government should be to help Americans, not illegal immigrants.
Mr. Speaker, I am now honored and pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
{time} 1300
Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee for the great work he does on this issue and a host of others.
Mr. Speaker, understand the Democrats' plan. It is as straightforward as you can imagine. First, let in 10 million illegal immigrants during the Biden administration. Then, create sanctuary jurisdictions where it becomes difficult to do any removal of those illegal immigrants who commit other crimes. Then, defund ICE, the guys who actually do the removal. Now, today, make temporary permanent. There are 300,000 people who entered temporary protected status. Make that permanent.
Why would they do all of this? Well, frankly, they told us. Secretary Clinton told us several years ago. They don't want a border. Remember what she said? We need a borderless hemisphere. That is what they want. That is the plan they are executing. I don't think the American people want that. I think that was the big issue in the 2024 election.
Here is the result. When you allow that to happen, here is the result, from 2 weeks ago: “Haitian Illegal Alien Violently Kills Innocent Mother By Repeatedly Hitting Her With a Hammer Outside Gas Station in Fort Myers,” in Florida. Guess what. This Haitian was here on temporary protected status. I haven't read the full story, but my guess is this guy probably had done some other crime and may have, in fact, been in a sanctuary area. Who knows.
Mr. Speaker, that is the result of this policy. It is systematic. It is intentional. Let 10 million in, create sanctuary jurisdictions where you can't remove them or it is difficult to remove them, defund the guys who actually do the removing, and make temporary permanent.
That is their plan. That is why this bill is wrong. I urge a “no” vote.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Gillen), the sponsor of this bill.
Ms. GILLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my bipartisan bill, H.R. 1689, to extend TPS for Haitians.
today—Democrat, Republican, and Independent. I thank Representative Pressley, co-chair of the Haiti Caucus, for her leadership on the discharge petition that helped make this vote possible. I am grateful for our partnership in the fight to protect our Haitian neighbors.
populations in the country. We are incredibly proud of that. Haitian Long Islanders are part of the very fabric of our community. They work in critical sectors like healthcare, education, caregiving, and supporting our elderly, and they work in our local hospitals. Many have built thriving businesses and have enriched our faith community.
in my district that I would use my voice to work with anyone from any party to help protect this community and their existing legal status here in the United States.
Let's be very clear. These are people who came in through the front door legally and are paying taxes and contributing to our community. Removing these folks would not just be a humanitarian catastrophe. It would hurt our economy.
bipartisan bill to extend TPS for Haiti. I felt that saving these people from imminent danger should not be partisan, and it was important to get support from the other side of the aisle. I was thrilled that my Republican colleague, Representative Mike Lawler, joined and was an original cosponsor of this bill. This is how Congress should be working, both sides working together.
administration and trying to do what is right and reverse this cruel, misguided decision to force Haitians to return to Haiti when they have come here lawfully.
the U.S. Department of State. The Department of State website explains it is too dangerous for American citizens to travel to Haiti because of kidnapping, rampant crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, and limited healthcare. How then could we say it is perfectly safe to force Haitians to go back there and that everything is okay?
Armed gangs control 90 percent of the capital. More than 1.4 million innocent civilians, half of them children, have been forced from their homes. It is cruel to expect Haitians to be forced to return to these deadly conditions. I have spoken to many Haitian families who desperately want to see peace return to their country and would like to go home once it is safe to do so.
I held a roundtable in my district and spoke to people. One speaker recently traveled to Haiti and said she could not even go to Port-au- Prince because it is so overrun by gangs. She shared that there is only one small part of Haiti that is safe for people to go to, but
there is no housing and no promise of securing work. It is truly a dire situation.
for a number of years. He has worked hard and graduated from college. Now, he is giving back to his community. He is helping those who could face the same fate as him if he loses this protection. He is dedicated to selflessly using the opportunity that he has been given to come here and using his voice to give back to his community. He encapsulates the heart of the Haitian community and the true humanity of the people we are trying to protect.
colleagues, we advance this discharge petition today and are voting on my legislation. It shows the bipartisan nature of this issue. It affects communities, red and blue.
Congress and delivering on the promise I made to my district. This is an important milestone for our hardworking, law-abiding, taxpaying Haitian friends and neighbors across the country.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in support of this legislation to protect their lives. I also say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that I ran on immigration reform. I am 1 of 10 original Democratic cosponsors, along with 10 Republican cosponsors, of the Dignity Act, which would transform our immigration system, secure our border, and create a legal pathway to citizenship. I urge my colleagues to take up immigration reform.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman said that Haitian TPS holders all entered this country through the front door legally. That is simply untrue. Yes, about 9 percent entered legally on visas; 91 percent entered illegally.
country must accept every Haitian who can illegally enter our country and then stay indefinitely.
Haiti isn't the only dangerous country in the world. Do the Democrats seriously argue that this is grounds for TPS for the hundreds of millions of people around the world who live in dangerous environments? This is absurd.
Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I vehemently oppose this backdoor amnesty bill that would allow hundreds of thousands of Haitians who entered our country illegally to be given de facto amnesty.
designed to be just that, temporary. Yet, it has metastasized into what is effectively a permanent amnesty program for unvetted foreigners all over the globe. That is exactly what this bill extends.
Who are these people that this bill applies to? There are roughly 350,000 Haitians covered under temporary protected status in the United States. Of those, an estimated 91 percent entered this country illegally. An estimated 69 percent came in under the Biden administration.
previous administration that the American people overwhelmingly rejected in the last election cycle.
Mr. Speaker, no serious country tolerates virtually unlimited numbers of foreigners breaking and entering. Yet, that is what this bill does.
More fundamentally, Mr. Speaker, the purpose of our immigration system is to benefit our people. It is for the benefit of Americans. We have no obligation to allow anybody from any part of the globe to come into America. When they do, they come in on our terms, for our benefit.
Let's ask ourselves: Does mass migration from Haiti benefit the American people? The answer is obviously no. Sixty-five percent of nonimmigrant Haitian-headed households are on welfare. Does that make America stronger, more prosperous, or more wealthy in any way? Of course, it doesn't.
{time} 1310
Mr. Speaker, the central thesis of the last election cycle was the American people rejecting mass migration. That is why they gave the President the popular vote. That is why Republicans have a trifecta, and we ought to listen to them.
The American people want their country back. The American people are tired of sending their kids to school where an unlimited number of children are speaking foreign languages or schools that are flooded with fentanyl because of open borders.
Mr. Speaker, we want to live in America. That is why I reject this bill, and I hope my colleagues will, as well.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Pressley), who has been such a leader on bringing this bill to the floor.
Ms. PRESSLEY. Mr. Speaker, once again, my colleagues across the aisle prove that they have no idea who or what actually makes this country great. It seems you don't know who the brilliant and effective educators in our classrooms are, or the owners of the restaurants that might provide your favorite meal, or even more, the healthcare provider, the home healthcare provider that is taking care of your aging loved one in a hospital or a nursing home.
communities, to civic life, to culture, to workforce, and to our economy.
battle of CLL, leukemia, that she ultimately lost, as her only child and her medical proxy in her final days, I was working daily to extend her life and to center her dignity. She spent her final moments in a hospital room in bed. The room was cold, but the Haitian nurses who cared for her provided much-needed warmth and compassion, oiling her scalp, braiding her hair, and going above and beyond to comfort my mother. I am eternally grateful to those women for their kindness, their competence, and their empathy.
dehumanized, criticized, or forced to live in fear of deportation. The unique care provided to my mother and millions of people cannot be replaced by AI.
Haitian TPS holders are not the problem. Quite the contrary, they are part of the solution. They are not our enemies. They do not exploit our Nation. They enhance it.
crisis. One in four of our long-term healthcare workers are Haitian, and one in five of our healthcare workers are Haitian.
The caregiving crisis impacts families throughout America. Our seniors need care to age with dignity and community. It is Haitian TPS holders who disproportionately serve as caregivers and home health aides, who during the pandemic, risked their lives to care for the sick and the ailing.
in evictions and a decrease in homeownership, it is Haitian TPS holders who are part of the solution as construction workers helping to build our housing supply.
and what actually makes this country great. They are the beneficiaries of their contributions. Haitian TPS holders are not the problem. They support our families, our economy, and our country.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts.
Ms. PRESSLEY. They are our neighbors, our educators, our congregants, people we work and worship with, and they are our friends. That is why I support my bipartisan legislation to extend Haiti TPS, and I urge my colleagues to vote “yes.”
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Fine).
Mr. FINE. Mr. Speaker, I have heard now that having these Haitians in our country is good for our community, will lead to people's deaths if we send them home, and that we have selective amnesia.
Mr. Speaker, I will help with that amnesia problem by talking about three people from my State of Florida.
Haitian in this country on TPS, which, by the way, is temporary, were killed. Their necks were slashed by someone who never should have been in this country. When do we care about their deaths?
here on TPS, who didn't even use a knife but a hammer to crush her skull. When do we care about her?
This whole thing is a scam. It was created for people who were protected because there was an earthquake 16 years ago. Now 350,000 people have been able to stay in our country for 16 years, the majority of whom are on welfare and have created an entire generation of birthright citizens who can't be sent home now because they have children who are Americans.
Mr. Speaker, this is an effort to undermine our country with people who have killed three people in my State. I did not come here to protect Haitians. I came here to protect for the good of our country. The only discharge petition I will support is the one that discharges all of these people back to Haiti.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), a distinguished member of the Appropriations Committee.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this measure to restore protections for our Haitian-American neighbors, and I am grateful for Congresswoman Pressley and Congresswoman Gillen's leadership on this issue.
Haiti is in collapse. That is not in doubt. Gangs control 90 percent of the capital. Millions are internally displaced, and most of the population needs emergency food and medicine.
The U.S. supports a peacekeeping force in Haiti, so it is hard to argue that it is dangerous enough to send in the military, yet safe enough to send civilians back to.
here to flee the same violence at home. TPS holders are on work permits, pay taxes, pay into Medicare and Social Security, and get nothing in return.
taxpayers foot the bill for detaining and deporting people who haven't committed a crime.
cost of deporting hardworking people into chaos when they pose no threat.
status—and I know that is a fact that my friends on the other side of the aisle refuse to acknowledge because TPS is a legal status—every dollar taken is a dollar not spent to go after real criminals.
saw strengthened my resolve. We can't stuff law-abiding people into cages for months with no trial and then send them to unsafe conditions.
{time} 1320
This week, I was proud to lead an amicus brief with Ms. Pressley and 185 congressional Democrats to urge the Supreme Court to reject Trump's illegal termination of TPS for Haitians.
community, economy, and culture. It infuriates me that President Trump shamelessly peddles lies about Haitians to promote racist, collective punishment. Haitian Americans deserve better. We all deserve better than an administration more concerned about hitting Stephen Miller's ICE quotas than bringing down costs.
grandmothers; if we care about the patients in hospitals and nursing homes; and if we care about making sure that our economy is strengthened by incredible Haitian workers who are part of the backbone of it, then we will vote “yes” to save jobs in your community, ensure that hospitals have nurses, ensure that elderly parents can access care, and to stand up for our Nation's values.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Tiffany).
Mr. TIFFANY. Mr. Speaker, isn't it interesting that we are here debating TPS for Haiti today? It is interesting because the t in TPS stands for “temporary.” It has never been intended as a rolling, multigenerational amnesty program. Yet, that is exactly what it has become: an amnesty program.
tool was used to extend de facto amnesty to more than 1 million aliens who entered this country without a visa. If this bill is passed, which was originally declared by President Obama in 2010, it will be extended yet again, this time through the end of the decade.
That is 20 years. That does not sound temporary.
Yet, it isn't just Haiti. Every Democrat administration has abused TPS. There are currently 1.5 million aliens from a dozen countries present in the United States under TPS designations, some of which began decades ago.
H.W. Bush in 1991, back when Paula Abdul and Bryan Adams topped the Billboard Top 40 charts. It remains in place yet today, thanks to an activist judge.
just replaced General Electric as America's most valuable company and gas was 92 cents a gallon. That designation lasted more than a quarter century and was only terminated last year after a lengthy court battle.
President Clinton's successor, George W. Bush, granted TPS to nationals of El Salvador in 2001, a full year before the BlackBerry smartphone would hit store shelves. That designation also continues, despite the fact that El Salvador's tourism ministry openly promotes posh, all-inclusive, luxury resorts and boasts one of the lowest homicide rates in our hemisphere. This is absurd.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Wisconsin.
Mr. TIFFANY. Mr. Speaker, TPS was never intended to be the Hotel California that allows illegal aliens to enter any time but they may never leave. It is time to put the t back in TPS and close this permanent administrative amnesty loophole.
I ask for a “no” vote on this bill.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of Representative Gillen's bill to extend temporary protective status for Haitians until 2029. In fact, to me, it is outrageous that it actually took Representative Pressley's bipartisan discharge petition to force this consequential vote.
and worked in a bipartisan way to make this happen because the American people recognize that our Haitian neighbors, whether they are from Miami, whether they are from Boston, whether they are in Westchester, New York, or whether they are in Queens, New York, are not strangers, but they are integral parts of our communities, our churches, and our families.
meet, but they surpass the threshold for TPS. We are talking about one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, where armed gangs control 90 percent of the capital, a public health system that is nearing collapse, a justice system which is almost nonexistent, and 1.4 million people who are internally displaced by fleeing from violence and hunger.
You don't have to take my word for it. Look at the United States Department of State's own travel advisory issued under this administration. It says plainly to not travel to Haiti due to kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, and limited healthcare.
this humanitarian crisis, and we can start today. We can start by passing this bill.
other parts of the world—in the beginning, especially from Europe—who were trying to find a place to come to in order to get away from dangerous conditions. That is the reason that the words at the base of the Statue of Liberty read: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the gentleman tells us that we have no choice as a
matter of humaneness but to accept these refugees into our
country who are fleeing danger. This is the only refuge
that they have.
That is simply not true. Bill Melugin of FOX News was at the border in 2021 when 15,000 Haitians bum-rushed our border. He just tweeted out his recollection of the events, and let me read them to you:
“Many of them later discarded their IDs and paperwork showing they had been living and working in South American countries for years (mostly Chile) as they prepared to make fraudulent asylum claims. Their documents were all over the ground. We collected many of them.”
already found refuge in other countries. They came here to exploit our system, an exploitation that the Democrats insist on aiding, abetting, and encouraging.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy).
Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from California for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I would note the starting place here. In 2010, Haitians were granted temporary status—temporary—after a severe earthquake struck their country. Since then, thousands of foreign nationals from Haiti have remained in the United States due to the renewal of this flawed program. Over and over again, that which was supposed to be temporary has become, effectively, permanent.
number of Haitians, 350,000, on TPS who will be taken out of healthcare. It is a fraction of that number that is actually in healthcare. Let's be honest.
My friend from Texas (Mr. Gill) noted earlier that 65 percent of the population is on welfare.
Mr. Speaker, 65 percent of the population that came in here under a temporary status is now living off of the taxpayer dollars of American taxpayers because we continue this flawed program.
{time} 1330
Haiti TPS holders enter the country illegally, deliberately violating our immigration laws, and are now using TPS status to stay in the United States. This is not what this program was designed to do.
fleeing danger. You know who else was fleeing danger? A mom, an innocent mom in Florida, just last week, who was brutally bludgeoned to death with a hammer outside a convenience store when her car was being beat up by a Haitian here because of Biden and on TPS. That woman, that mother, she was fleeing danger, the danger of a Haitian migrant here using this flawed TPS program that we are now going to allow to be made effectively permanent, undermining what the President is doing to try to stop the abuse of this program to continue to flood the United States with people that are living on the back of American taxpayers and endanger the American people.
How many more Americans do we need to see get murdered? How many more young girls on a subway in Charlotte? How many moms, like this mom in Florida, need to get bludgeoned to death because we refuse to do our job to ensure that the people that are coming to this country are coming here to become a part of our society, to follow our laws, to be a part of the melting pot that we so revere, rather than come here, trying to turn America into something that it is not, and exploit our goodwill to endanger the American people?
This is a flawed bill. It should not be supported by anyone in either party.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick).
Mrs. CHERFILUS-McCORMICK. I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to talk about the economic damage.
recognize that the Haitian people who actually have come to the United States, they did go through a vigorous vetting process in order for them to get the TPS status that they have.
come to actually pushing out more than 350,000 TPS recipients, we know that is going to be devastating to our market. There is a better way.
2029, but also figuring out how we can actually transition. While these TPS recipients hold over 100,000 jobs in healthcare, which is actually a fact, why don't we put together some kind of continuing education program for Americans so they can replace them. What is the rush to kick them out of the country and to leave all of these positions open with no one to refill them?
hospitality industry in South Florida, where we have more than a thousand Haitian TPS workers who work in the airports in Miami, the airports in Broward County, and also in hospitality, if we kick them out willy-nilly, just everybody goes out in one day, how are we going to sustain the economy in South Florida, in a State that everybody loves to visit?
think about how we can actually have a transition process that will protect the American people, help our economy, but not rushing toward this mass exodus which is going to leave the American people in the industry.
did ask for job skills training. They did ask for a transition. They are not looking for chaos and just to push people out.
people are on welfare. My district is full of Haitian people. My family is from Haiti. I don't know anybody who is on welfare. What we are saying is that we are not arguing that it should be temporary. In fact, the bill says until 2029. What we are arguing is that we sit together, come together, and have a plan of transition.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida.
Mrs. CHERFILUS-McCORMICK. What I would propose is that we actually pass this bill and then come together and think of a transition where we can now train Americans so they can get those jobs, give them a green card until that time comes, and protect our economy.
I would say it one more time. If we just move forward like this, what we would be doing is economic sabotage. Look at all of the Haitian workers and what they uphold. Think of every elderly person who has a nurse. Think of the vulnerable.
My heart hurts for anybody who was hurt. I do not like women being abused. I think it is terrible when we have criminals, but let's have cool minds come together and have a plan that benefits both sides and this country.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close when the gentlewoman concludes, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, in closing, temporary protected status was created to ensure that our country is never forced to send someone back to harm's way. So long as dangerous conditions exist in someone's country of origin, TPS is meant to authorize them to remain here until that danger has passed.
Haiti. Nonessential personnel have been evacuated from the country, and the State Department continues to tell Americans not to travel to Haiti. The government instructs people who must go to Haiti to establish “a proof of life protocol” with their family members, to
make funeral plans, and draft a will before they travel to the country.
Haitians to return to Haiti. They warn us about the imminent risk of death that comes with traveling to Haiti but have no qualms of sending 350,000 people who have been living in this country and contributing to their communities right here at home.
whether the administration's termination of TPS was lawful. With the bill before us today, we can send a strong bipartisan message to the court that this body recognizes the reality that Haiti remains deeply unsafe, is in no way prepared to accept hundreds of thousands of people returning, and that the TPS designation for Haiti should remain in effect.
Now, Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot said on this floor today. I haven't challenged every single thing, but what I want the American people to know is there is a lot of misinformation being spread about Haitian TPS holders, about TPS holders in general, and about immigrants.
immigrants in this country. That is absolutely not true. There is a record-high support for legal pathways and a general belief that immigration is good for this country. A record high 79 percent of Americans now say that immigration is a good thing for the United States, and only 30 percent of Americans actually want to see decreased levels of demand. That is in part because this administration promised to deport only the worst of the worst and then went out and kidnapped and disappeared people, incarcerates children, and is committing cruelty, including murdering U.S. citizens in the streets.
this country: 21 percent of Haitians in healthcare, 19 percent in retail, 15 percent in education and social services, 15,000 Haitians in agriculture, and 14.5 percent of Haitians are small business owners who are generating over $1.5 billion in revenue.
country and then establish a level of cruelty toward those same immigrants. That is not right.
Mr. Speaker, as one of the very few naturalized citizens to serve in this country, it is difficult for me to constantly listen to the anti- immigrant rhetoric that comes from the other side, the cruelty that comes from this administration, when I myself know what this process is. I have been through it.
The reality is immigrants are contributing. Haitian immigrants who are here are working in their communities. It is why there is also a record level of support for continuing Haitian TPS. The public polling on TPS for Haitians: 90 percent of Democrats, 63 percent of Independents, and almost half of Republicans support that.
discharge petition to bring this bill to the floor. I am grateful for any Republicans who vote today for this bill because what the American people want is to respect the contributions of immigrants across this country who are helping to build our communities. That is what Haitians are doing for us right now, and it is exactly why I hope all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will support this bipartisan, critically important bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
{time} 1340
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
admit hundreds of millions of people living in those dangerous places into the United States and then support them?
seen from them whenever they have taken power. It is what happens when governments become corrupt and refuse to protect innocent citizens from violent predators who roam the streets.
where leftist DAs refuse to prosecute dangerous criminals and prefer to release dangerous, criminal illegal aliens back onto our streets rather than turn them over to ICE to be removed from our country.
illegal aliens into our country from violent and lawless societies like Haiti.
Yes, many of these people are fleeing these conditions. Many others are creating them. Why would you allow the latter into our country to create the same violence and lawlessness?
That is why we have immigration laws: to separate out the good from the bad. There are good and bad in every community, but we need to keep the bad out. That is what the Democrats seek constantly to undermine.
makes a mockery of the entire temporary protected status provisions of our immigration law. The law was designed to ensure that foreign nationals legally in our country, who are prevented from returning home because of temporary conditions, could remain here until those conditions have abated.
conditions to seek permanent residence in America by illegally entering our country. Yet, that is precisely what the Democrats are turning this program into with this bill today.
laws. If we have no immigration laws, we have no border. If we have no border, then we have no country.
refuge for legal residents. This temporary status for Haitians has now gone on for 16 years. Ninety-one percent of these TPS holders are not legal visitors temporarily stranded in our country. Rather, they are illegal aliens who broke our laws specifically to benefit from TPS status.
borders. They overwhelmed local communities. Among this population came violent criminals who we can only count as they commit heinous atrocities like the one we saw in Fort Myers just 9 days ago.
the first duty of the American Government is to protect the American people and not illegal aliens, not one of them stood. It shouldn't surprise us that they now bring this bill as the first step toward returning to the open-border policies of the Biden administration.
America, take heed. As this debate has once again made painfully clear, if the Democrats return to power, their first order of business will be to reopen our borders and allow the illegal mass migration into this country to continue. We can expect temporary protected status to become permanent protected status for every nationality the Democrats favor on the thinnest of pretexts. They have repeatedly made their intentions clear: to continue the ruinous open-border policies of the Biden administration.
future. I ask the House to reject it as well by rejecting this, the first in a long line of Democrat open-border bills.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that the noes appeared to have it.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XX, this 15- minute vote on passage of the bill will be followed by a 5-minute vote on adoption of H. Res. 1156.
Roll No. 120
YEAS—224
Adams
Aguilar
Amo
Ansari
Auchincloss
Bacon
Balint
Barragan
Beatty
Bell
Bera
Beyer
Bishop
Bonamici
Boyle (PA)
Brown
Brownley
Budzinski
Bynum
Carbajal
Carey
Carson
Carter (LA)
Casar
Case
Casten
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Cherfilus-McCormick
Chu
Cisneros
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Conaway
Correa
Costa
Courtney
Craig
Crockett
Crow
Cuellar
Davids (KS)
Davis (IL)
Davis (NC)
Dean (PA)
DeGette
DeLauro
DelBene
Deluzio
DeSaulnier
Dexter
Diaz-Balart
Dingell
Doggett
Elfreth
Escobar
Espaillat
Evans (PA)
Fields
Figures
Fitzpatrick
Fletcher
Foster
Foushee
Frankel, Lois
Friedman
Frost
Garamendi
Garcia (CA)
Garcia (IL)
Garcia (TX)
Gillen
Gimenez
Golden (ME)
Goldman (NY)
Gomez
Gonzalez, V.
Goodlander
Gottheimer
Gray
Green, Al (TX)
Grijalva
Harder (CA)
Hayes
Himes
Horsford
Houlahan
Hoyer
Hoyle (OR)
Huffman
Ivey
Jackson (IL)
Jacobs
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson (TX)
Kamlager-Dove
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy (NY)
Khanna
Kiley (CA)
Krishnamoorthi
Landsman
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Latimer
Lawler
Lee (NV)
Lee (PA)
Leger Fernandez
Levin
Liccardo
Lieu
Lofgren
Lynch
Magaziner
Malliotakis
Mannion
Matsui
McBath
McBride
McClain Delaney
McClellan
McCollum
McCormick
McDonald Rivet
McGarvey
McGovern
McIver
Meeks
Menefee
Menendez
Meng
Mfume
Min
Moore (WI)
Morelle
Morrison
Moskowitz
Moulton
Mrvan
Mullin
Nadler
Neal
Neguse
Norcross
Ocasio-Cortez
Olszewski
Omar
Pallone
Panetta
Pappas
Pelosi
Perez
Peters
Pettersen
Pingree
Pocan
Pou
Pressley
Quigley
Ramirez
Randall
Raskin
Riley (NY)
Rivas
Ross
Ruiz
Ryan
Salazar
Salinas
Sanchez
Scanlon
Schakowsky
Schneider
Scholten
Schrier
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Sewell
Sherman
Simon
Smith (WA)
Sorensen
Soto
Stansbury
Stanton
Stevens
Strickland
Subramanyam
Suozzi
Sykes
Takano
Thanedar
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tlaib
Tokuda
Tonko
Torres (CA)
Torres (NY)
Trahan
Tran
Turner (OH)
Underwood
Vargas
Vasquez
Veasey
Velazquez
Vindman
Walkinshaw
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson Coleman
Whitesides
Williams (GA)
Wilson (FL)
NAYS—204
Aderholt
Alford
Allen
Amodei (NV)
Arrington
Babin
Baird
Balderson
Barr
Barrett
Baumgartner
Bean (FL)
Begich
Bentz
Bergman
Bice
Biggs (AZ)
Biggs (SC)
Bilirakis
Boebert
Bost
Brecheen
Bresnahan
Buchanan
Burchett
Burlison
Calvert
Cammack
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Ciscomani
Cline
Cloud
Clyde
Cole
Collins
Comer
Crane
Crank
Crawford
Crenshaw
Davidson
De La Cruz
DesJarlais
Donalds
Downing
Dunn (FL)
Edwards
Ellzey
Emmer
Estes
Evans (CO)
Ezell
Fallon
Fedorchak
Feenstra
Fine
Finstad
Fischbach
Fitzgerald
Fleischmann
Flood
Fong
Foxx
Franklin, Scott
Fry
Fulcher
Fuller
Garbarino
Gill (TX)
Goldman (TX)
Gooden
Gosar
Graves
Griffith
Grothman
Guest
Guthrie
Hageman
Hamadeh (AZ)
Haridopolos
Harrigan
Harris (MD)
Harris (NC)
Harshbarger
Hern (OK)
Higgins (LA)
Hill (AR)
Hinson
Houchin
Hudson
Huizenga
Hunt
Hurd (CO)
Issa
Jack
Jackson (TX)
James
Johnson (LA)
Johnson (SD)
Jordan
Joyce (OH)
Joyce (PA)
Kelly (MS)
Kelly (PA)
Kennedy (UT)
Kiggans (VA)
Kim
Knott
Kustoff
LaHood
LaLota
Langworthy
Latta
Lee (FL)
Letlow
Loudermilk
Lucas
Luna
Luttrell
Mackenzie
Maloy
Mann
Massie
Mast
McCaul
McClain
McClintock
McDowell
McGuire
Messmer
Meuser
Miller (IL)
Miller (OH)
Miller (WV)
Miller-Meeks
Mills
Moolenaar
Moore (AL)
Moore (NC)
Moore (UT)
Moore (WV)
Moran
Nehls
Newhouse
Norman
Nunn (IA)
Obernolte
Ogles
Onder
Owens
Palmer
Patronis
Perry
Pfluger
Reschenthaler
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rose
Rouzer
Roy
Rulli
Rutherford
Scalise
Schmidt
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Self
Sessions
Shreve
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smucker
Spartz
Stauber
Stefanik
Steil
Steube
Strong
Stutzman
Taylor
Tenney
Thompson (PA)
Tiffany
Timmons
Valadao
Van Drew
Van Duyne
Van Epps
Van Orden
Wagner
Walberg
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Westerman
Wied
Williams (TX)
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Yakym
Zinke
NOT VOTING—3
Kean
Mace
Murphy
{time} 1421
Messrs. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, EMMER, SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida, Ms. BOEBERT, Messrs. LUTTRELL and McCAUL changed their vote from “yea” to “nay.”
Ms. KAPTUR, Messrs. DAVIS of Illinois, NEAL, and RUIZ changed their vote from “nay” to “yea.”
So the bill was passed.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.