House passes bill extending protections for Haitian migrants in the U.S.

People chant during a rally in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in support of the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian immigrants. Lynne Sladky/AP

Lynne Sladky/AP

The U.S. House voted on Thursday to extend temporary protected status for Haitian migrants through 2029, with several Republicans supporting the Democratic-endorsed measure to curb President Trump's immigration crackdown.

The vote was split 224-204, with 10 Republicans joining the Democrats in approving the resolution.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), who led the effort, used a congressional procedure called a discharge petition to force a vote to the floor.

"This is a monumental victory in a long-fought battle to protect the safety, dignity, and humanity of our Haitian neighbors," Pressley said in a statement after the bill's passage. "Democrats and Republicans alike have come together to support our Haitian neighbors not just because this is good, commonsense policy, but because it is the right, humane thing to do."

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Many of the Republicans who voted for the measure are from districts considered competitive in the upcoming midterm election, including in New York.

The Republicans who voted in favor of the measure include Florida Reps. María Elvira Salazar, Carlos Gimenez and Mario Diaz-Balart, and Ohio Reps. Mike Carey and Mike Turner.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where it faces an uphill battle against a Republican majority.

If it does pass the Senate, the White House has said that Trump would veto the bill.

"The Administration understands members have to vote their districts at times," the White House said in a statement to NPR. "This terrible bill is going nowhere and there has been a veto threat issued. The administration is focused on enforcing federal immigration law and putting American citizens first."

Haiti is one of more than a dozen countries Trump has targeted to strip temporary protected status (TPS) for its citizens. TPS is intended to provide a safe haven for foreign nationals whose home countries are experiencing armed conflict, fallout from natural disasters, and other temporarily unsafe conditions.

Haitians were granted protections in 2010 under then-President Obama following the devastating earthquake that rocked the already beleaguered nation and left an estimated 220,000 dead and 1.5 million people displaced.

The Biden and first Trump administrations both extended TPS for Haitian refugees. Proponents of the extensions say the country remains wracked by gang violence and crumbling medical infrastructure.

Despite what the U.N. describes as a humanitarian crisis in the country, the Department of Homeland Security said that there are no longer "extraordinary and temporary conditions" to prevent refugees from returning to the Caribbean nation and that it was "contrary to the national interest of the United States" to allow them to remain.

Trump has described Haitian migrants as a threat to the American way of life, including spreading a racist and unfounded lie that Haitians were eating household pets in Springfield, Ohio.

Trump previously announced that the protected status for the more than 330,000 Haitians as well as some 6,000 Syrians who live in the U.S. would end in February, but a federal judge blocked the administration from issuing those deportation orders.

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Their status remains protected pending a decision from the Supreme Court. The high court is set to hear arguments on that case this month with a decision likely by June.