A group of House Republicans decided to break rank with President Donald Trump and support extending protection for over 350,000 Haitian nationals from being deported back to their home country, a move that many conservatives believe is a complete betrayal of the administration’s America First agenda. A total of ten GOP lawmakers voted alongside Democrats and one independent to pass a bill that would allow Haitians to be eligible for temporary protected status (TPS) for an additional three years.
The list of Republicans included: Reps. Mike Lawler and Nicole Malliotakis of New York; Maria Elvira Salazar, Mario Diaz-Balart and Carlos Gimenez of Florida. Don Bacon of Nebraska; Rich McCormick of Georgia; Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania; and Mike Carey and Mike Turner of Ohio. It’s important to note that a number of these individuals have Haitian diaspora communities in their districts.
For those unfamiliar with the TPS program, it allows foreign nationals who come from home countries facing humanitarian crises or dangerous living conditions to temporarily work and live in the U.S. without fear of being deported. However, it does not provide them with a pathway to citizenship. The vote follows efforts from the Trump administration to revoke TPS status for Haitians, stating that conditions in Haiti have improved and extending the program runs counter to American interests.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham discussed the betrayal of these ten GOP lawmakers on a recent episode of her program. “Because America First isn’t complicated, it means America, her families, her people, and her workers come first, but what happened in the House this week suggests that some Republicans still refuse to get it,” Ingraham said during her monologue.
“What should really burn you up, as my late mother would say, is that 10 Republicans and one independent who caucuses with them joined the open borders Democrats to pass this. Remember these names: Mike Lawler, Maria Salazar, of course, Don Bacon retiring, Brian Fitzpatrick, Carlos Gimenez, Nicole Malliotakis, Mario Diaz-Balart, Rich McCormick, Mike Turner, Mike Carey, and Kevin Kiley,” she continued.
Ingraham then said that this group of Republicans are justifying their vote by saying that anyone who questions the move is being mean. “Now, how do they justify this advocation? I have a hint for you. You’re mean simply for asking. They claim that returning the immigrants to their home country, which the statute underneath clearly contemplates is not compassionate.”
She then plays a compilation of lawmakers attempting to justify the TPS extension, many of them playing the “empathy and sympathy” card to do so. The resolution was sponsored by Rep. Laura Gillen (D-NY) on the House floor. President Trump shined a spotlight on the murder of a Florida woman by an illegal immigrant from Haiti who reportedly received TPS status while Joe Biden was in the White House, according to Fox News.
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“An Illegal Alien Criminal from Haiti, who was released into our Country by the WORST President in History, Crooked Joe Biden, and the Radical Democrats in Congress, just beat an innocent woman to death with a hammer at a gas station in Florida,” Trump went on to write in a Truth Social post. “This one killing should be enough for these Radical Judges to STOP impeding my Administration’s Immigration Policies, and allow us to END THIS SCAM ONCE AND FOR ALL.”