HR-1689-119
Received in the Senate.
Sponsored by Laura Gillen (D-NY)
What it does
This bill would direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for an 18-month period beginning August 3, 2025. While TPS is in effect, eligible Haitian nationals already present in the United States would be authorized to work, could not be detained solely based on their immigration status, and would not be subject to deportation.
Who benefits
Haitian nationals currently in the United States who lack legal immigration status and would qualify for TPS — estimated at several hundred thousand individuals. Haitian communities and diaspora organizations in the U.S. Employers who hire Haitian workers, who would gain a legally authorized workforce. Immigration attorneys and legal aid organizations who assist TPS applicants. Haitian families with mixed immigration status who would avoid separation. Indirectly, Haiti itself may benefit from continued remittances sent by Haitian nationals who remain in the U.S.
Who is hurt
The executive branch — specifically DHS and the Secretary of Homeland Security — would lose discretionary authority over TPS designation decisions. Workers in labor markets where Haitian TPS holders are concentrated (e.g., construction, hospitality, agriculture) may face increased competition. Taxpayers who fund the administrative costs of processing TPS applications and work authorizations. Those who argue TPS designations incentivize unauthorized immigration may view this as a harm to broader immigration enforcement goals.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that Haiti faces severe, ongoing instability — including gang violence controlling large portions of the country, a collapsed government, and the lingering effects of the 2021 assassination of President Moïse and the 2010 earthquake — making safe return impossible for hundreds of thousands of Haitian nationals. They contend that Congress mandating TPS is necessary because executive discretion has produced inconsistent protections, leaving vulnerable people in legal limbo, and that TPS is a time-limited, humanitarian tool that does not confer permanent status or a path to citizenship.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that TPS designation has historically been an executive branch function, and that Congress mandating a specific designation for a specific country removes the flexibility the executive needs to respond to changing conditions on the ground. They contend that legislatively compelled TPS sets a precedent that could be used to override the President's broad discretionary authority over immigration and foreign policy, and that TPS designations — once granted — are politically difficult to terminate, effectively converting a temporary status into a de facto permanent one, as evidenced by TPS designations for some countries lasting decades.