DESIGNATION OF HAITI FOR TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS

On 2026-04-16, Representative Tom McClintock (R-CA-5) delivered a floor speech titled "DESIGNATION OF HAITI FOR TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS" in the House. The speech addressed immigration and also covered healthcare, the economy. It referenced legislation including HR1689, HRES965, HRES1156.

DESIGNATION OF HAITI FOR TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 67 (Thursday, April 16, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 67 (Thursday, April 16, 2026)] [House] [Pages H2940-H2947] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] DESIGNATION OF HAITI FOR TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS The 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. President Trump reversed these ruinous policies simply by enforcing our existing immigration laws. Illegal border crossings immediately plunged more [[Page H2941]] 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. One aspect of this deliberately engineered nightmare was the abuse of 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. Now, as its name implies, temporary protected status is supposed to 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. Under Biden, the number of TPS beneficiaries nearly quadrupled in just 4 years as aliens illegally entered our country in order to claim this status. The Immigration and Nationality Act not only gives the President the 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. Barack Obama granted temporary protected status to Haitian nationals 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. During the Trump administrations, the Department of Homeland Security 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. Indeed, as the House Judiciary Committee documented in a report early 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 Abuses like these allowed the TPS program to balloon from roughly 410,000 when Biden took office to nearly 1.5 million aliens from 16 different countries by the day he left office. As the number of aliens with TPS skyrocketed, American communities 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. Our Immigration, Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee 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. These decisions are clearly provided for under the Immigration and 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. Americans will not soon forget the image of thousands of illegal 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. TPS was established with broad, bipartisan support in 1990 to provide 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. Today, the Trump administration is dismantling this longstanding commitment to our core values, attempting to end TPS for countries where the conditions are still incredibly dangerous. One country with which the President has seemed obsessed since his 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. In less than 2 weeks, the ability of the Trump administration to end 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. For years, Haiti has been dealing with significant political turmoil 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. However, this isn't just about what is right and wrong for Haitians or for other TPS holders, Mr. Speaker. It is also about what benefits Americans. Despite all the lies and misinformation spread 

Referenced legislation: HRES965, HRES965, HRES1156, HR1689