Migrants board a city bus to a shelter intake center after traveling on a bus from Del Rio, Texas, to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City on May 13, 2023. (Victor J. Blue)
The first Trump administration sought to wind down TPS for a number of countries, but it was caught up in a yearslong court battle launched by left-wing civil rights groups on the matter.
TPS again became a major issue in 2024 as Republicans and conservatives drew attention to mass migration via humanitarian parole from Haiti. Migrants were coming in via the use of the CBP One app and a program that allowed up to 30,000 migrants from four countries a month into the U.S. They could then be eligible for TPS if they arrived before the country was re-designated.
There were widespread reports of Haitian migrants flooding towns in Ohio and elsewhere, which were picked up by former President Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio. Trump promised to revoke TPS for Haiti earlier this year.
"It’s been overrun. You can’t do that to people. I’d revoke [TPS], and I’d bring [the migrants] back to their country," he told NewsNation when speaking about Springfield, Ohio.
Vance described TPS as a "government edict saying that you’re not allowed to deport people anymore." Conservatives have long complained that continued extensions of TPS mean it is not "temporary" as it claims to be.
President-elect Trump (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images/File)
Republicans have made moves to restrict the program in Congress. Sen.-elect Jim Banks, R-Ind., introduced a bill that restricts TPS designations by requiring Congress to approve them for 12-month terms and requiring additional moves by Congress to extend them. Trump has promised to launch a mass deportation operation, and restrictions on TPS and other immigration benefits are expected to accompany that.
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With that looming, Democrats have been urging Biden to extend protections under TPS and other programs to blunt the impact of the incoming administration.
"We write now because the window to secure and finalize your administration’s policies is closing rapidly," Democrats led by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told Biden in a letter this month.
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"We urge you to act decisively between now and the inauguration of the President-elect to complete the important work of the past four years and protect immigrant families."
So far, however, there has not been any movement on TPS by the Biden administration nor any indication that any redesignations or extensions are imminent.
Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.
He can be reached at adam.shaw2@fox.com or on Twitter.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dems-urge-biden-extend-controversial-immigrant-program-trump-cut