Watch Pressley Manage Floor Debate on Her Bipartisan Discharge Petition

Final Passage Set for Thursday Afternoon

Pressley Floor Debate | Pressley Press Conference

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Co-Chair of the House Haiti Caucus, won a key procedural vote on her bipartisan discharge petition to extend Temporary Protected Status for Haiti. The House of Representatives agreed to Congresswoman Pressley’s motion to discharge by a vote of 219-209, and final passage is set for Thursday afternoon.

“This is a critical step forward in our fight for immigrant justice and delivering our Haitian neighbors the protections they deserve—and it’s a testament to the strength of our broad, diverse, and bipartisan coalition,” said Congresswoman Pressley in a statement. “I am grateful to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who supported our discharge petition, to my staff who power this work, and our movement partners who’ve helped us get this far. The House must move with urgency and pass this legislation without delay.”

Earlier today, Rep. Pressley and Congresswoman Laura Gillen (NY-04) held a press conference alongside colleagues and advocates calling for the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians. Following the press conference, Congresswoman Pressley went to the House floor to advance her discharge petition on Rep. Gillen’s bill and trigger the first procedural House vote on extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti until April 2029.

For footage of Rep. Pressley managing floor debate on her discharge petition, click here. A transcript of her remarks on the floor are below.

Transcript: Rep. Pressley Manages Floor Debate on Her Haiti TPS Discharge Petition
April 15, 2026
House of Representatives

Opening Remarks:

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in unequivocal support of this vote.

I am immensely grateful to the members who supported my discharge petition on both sides of the aisle.

The broad, intergenerational and multiracial coalition of justice-seekers throughout the country who power this movement and my indefatigable staff, my A-Team, who power this work.

I’m grateful for labor unions like SEIU, business industry like ABIC, faith leaders like the Conference of Catholic Bishops, civil rights groups like Black Lives Matter Grassroots, IFSI, and so many more have joined the movement to extend TPS for Haiti.

Now this issue, Mr. Speaker, is not the most glamorous, and I don’t fault anyone at home who perhaps has never heard of this. But for those who know those three letters, T-P-S, they know it is life changing.

Temporary Protected Status is a legal status for 1.3 million immigrants in the United States. The application process is arduous, requiring piles of paperwork, undergoing a background check, spending hundreds of dollars and coming from one of the few countries on the list, like Haiti or Venezuela.

Technically, the deadline for maintaining Haiti TPS has already passed. That is why this vote is so urgent.

That is why I filed the discharge petition. And that is why Democrats, Republicans, and an Independent have come together to take action.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote yes to extend Temporary Protected Status for Haitians who are living in the United States and building a future that will help all of us.

Haitians like Rebeca in my district, the Massachusetts 7th, who shared her personal story with me. Rebeca moved to the United States in 2010 not by choice, but out of necessity following the catastrophic earthquake that killed more people than any other earthquake in the history of the Western Hemisphere. She witnessed the rise in gangs and saw her beautiful country overtaken by political violence and instability

After surviving multiple kidnapping attempts, out of desperation, Rebeca made the same decision that any of us would make in her position, she immigrated to the United States. She quickly enrolled in school to learn English. She obtained a job to support herself and her family. Now in 2026, thanks to her legal status under TPS, Rebeca is a certified nursing assistant. She told me that she cares for her patients with great joy, pride, and dedication.

Mr. Speaker, let the record reflect that 20% of Haitians in the United States, that’s one in five, work in healthcare bridging the critical workforce gaps that define our caregiving crisis.

Rebeca is not our enemy. She should not have to live with shame nor fear of being deported solely because of where she was born. She told me that she cannot return to Haiti and she has no other place to go, Mr. Speaker, Rebeca’s letter ended with two words that no person wishes they’d ever need to use. “Please help.”

Today, Congress has the ability to do just that — for Rebeca in Massachusetts, for the teacher in Ohio, for the entrepreneur in Florida, and the more than 350,000 Haitian TPS holders whose lives hang in the balance.

Congress can help. Congress can do the right thing. There is nothing stopping us. Congress, right now and right here, can vote to save lives.

I urge my colleagues to vote yes.”

Closing Remarks:

“Mr. Speaker, I am preparing to close.

A vote against this resolution is a vote against our country’s best interest, plain and simple.

But don’t just take my word for it, Mr. Speaker. Republicans in the executive branch agree.

If you go to the State Department’s website, you will see the Trump Administration has designated Haiti as a Level 4, Code Red, Do Not Travel because of the multi-layered humanitarian crises of natural disasters, gang violence, and political instability impacting the island.

That’s why TPS is warranted in this moment, and Secretary Rubio knows that. In fact, when he was in the Senate, it was Rubio who authored the very legislation we are voting on today, and it’s not just him who agrees.

The US. Ambassador the United Nations, Mike Waltz has repeatedly discussed the dire conditions of Haiti and its strategic importance to our national security. Ambassador Waltz, who was recently a Republican in this very body, believes we should be working to stabilize Haiti. He knows that the international effort to restore order in Port-au-Prince would be undermined if we deport hundreds of thousands of Haitians to the island.

But this isn’t just about foreign policy. Secretary Kennedy of the Department of Health and Human Services said something families across the country already know too well: that America is facing a caregiver crisis.

But Mr. Speaker, if we were to deport Haitians, we would lose even more nurses, aides and caregivers that we desperately need. Those jobs can’t be replaced by AI.

So the solution is clear. I urge my colleagues to vote yes to extend TPS because it’s the economic thing to do, it’s the strategic thing to do, it’s the humane thing to do. But most of all, it is the right thing to do.

I yield back the balance of my time and move the previous question on the resolution.

—

Last month, Rep. Pressley’s discharge petition successfully met the 218-signature threshold to move forward with bipartisan support.

Congresswoman Pressley serves as Co-Chair for the House Haiti Caucus and represents one of the largest Haitian diaspora communities in the country. She has stood in vigorous defense for Haitian communities and all immigrant neighbors amid Trump and ICE’s attacks against immigrant communities.

Congresswoman Pressley has been a leading voice in Congress pushing back against Trump’s threats to terminate Temporary Protected Status for Haitians.

This week, Rep. Pressley, alongside Rep. Wasserman Schultz and Senators Ed Markey and Chris Van Hollen, led 26 Senators and 157 Representatives in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Miot v. Trump, a consolidated case challenging the Trump administration’s unlawful termination of Haiti and Syria Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

On March 28, 2026, Rep. Pressley’s discharge petition to force a House vote on extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti successfully met the 218-signature threshold to move forward with bipartisan support.

In March 2026, Rep. Pressley joined Haitian faith leaders and advocates to urge the Supreme Court to affirm the lower courts’ rulings that deemed Trump’s push to terminate Haiti TPS unlawful.

In February 2026, Rep. Pressley applauded a federal judge’s ruling to temporarily block Trump’s move to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians. Ending TPS for Haitians would leave over 350,000 Haitian nationals at risk of deportation, many of whom reside in the Massachusetts 7th congressional district.

In January 2026, Congresswoman Pressley, alongside Senator Markey, held a field hearing on the importance of extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti. She documented this testimony in the legislative record. Footage from the hearing is available here and photos here.

In January 2026, Rep. Pressley also organized a press conference in D.C. in January to sound the alarm on the harm of terminating TPS for Haiti on seniors and the U.S. care economy.

• On June 28, 2025, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) issued the following statement condemning the Trump Administration’s abominable termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti effective September 2nd, 2025.
• On June 5, 2025, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) and Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) issued the following statement on Donald Trump’s executive order that bans citizens of 12 countries, including Haiti, from traveling to the United States, and places partial restrictions on citizens of seven more nations.
• On March 18, 2025,  Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (NY-09), and Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) led 62 of their colleagues in the House and 23 of their colleagues in the Senate in a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanding the Trump Administration redesignate and extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti, which the administration recently canceled on questionable legal authority:
• On February 20, 2025, Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Yvette Clarke (NY-12), and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20) issued the following statement condemning the Trump Administration’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti.
• On April 23, 2024, Rep. Pressley, alongside Co-Chairs Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), led a group of 50 lawmakers urging the Biden Administration to redesignate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), pause on deportations back to Haiti, extend humanitarian parole to any Haitians currently detained in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detention centers, end detention of Haitian migrants intercepted at sea, and provide additional humanitarian assistance for Haiti.
• On April 18, 2024, Rep. Pressley and Haiti Caucus Co-Chairs led a letter to House Ways and Means Committee leadership emphasizing support for the early renewal of the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement (HOPE) and the Haiti Economic Lift Program (HELP) Acts, commonly known as HOPE/HELP.
• On April 12, 2024, Rep. Pressley joined Haitian-led activists, organizations, and a directly impacted person in Haiti for a press call urging federal action to address the worsening humanitarian crisis in Haiti.
• On March 27, 2024, Rep. Pressley joined Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and her colleagues on the Massachusetts congressional delegation in urging the Biden Administration to expedite visa processing for Haitians, particularly  for relatives of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.
• On March 12, 2024, Rep. Pressley and Haiti Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Cherfilus McCormick and Yvette Clarke issued a statement on the resignation of Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
• On March 6, 2024, Rep. Pressley issued a statement on the recent jailbreak and State of Emergency in Haiti.
• On December 8, 2023, Rep. Pressley and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke urged the U.S. Department of State to withdraw U.S. support for an armed foreign intervention in Haiti and encourage negotiations for a Haitian-led democratic political transition.
• On December 6, 2022, Rep. Pressley issued a statement applauding the Biden Administration’s extension and re-designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti.
• On December 1, 2022, Rep. Pressley, Rep. Cori Bush, and Rep. Mondaire Jones led 14 of their colleagues on a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urging the Department to extend and redesignate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
• On August 17, 2022, Rep. Pressley, along with Haiti Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Val Demings, Yvette Clarke, and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), called on President Biden to appoint a new Special Envoy to Haiti, a position that has remained unfilled since September 2021.
• On May 31, 2022, Rep. Pressley and Reverend Dieufort Fleurissaint, chair of Haitian Americans United, published an op-ed in the Bay State Banner in which they called on the Biden administration to withdraw support for de facto ruler of Haiti, Ariel Henry, and instead support an inclusive, civil society-led process to restore stability and democracy on the island. 
• On May 26, 2022, Rep. Pressley, along with with Representatives Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Andy Levin (MI-09), Jim McGovern (MA-02), and Frederica Wilson (FL-24), led a letter to United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Power urging her to act to ensure food security in Haiti.
• In February 2022, Reps. Pressley, Judy Chu (CA-27), and Nydia Velázquez (NY-07) led 33 other House Democrats on a letter to CDC Director Walensky demanding answers about the agency’s justification for treating asylum seekers as a unique public health threat, how these expulsions are being coordinated, how asylum seekers being returned to dangerous situations are being cared for, and more. Days later, Rep. Pressley once again called on the Biden Administration to reverse the Title 42 Order and other anti-Black immigration policies.
• On March 16, 2022, Rep. Pressley and Rep. Mondaire Jones called on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky to fully end Title 42, cease deportations of people to Haiti and affirm their legal and fundamental human right to seek asylum.
• On February 16, 2022, Rep. Pressley joined Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01), Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), and 100 House and Senate colleagues in urging President Biden to reverse inhumane immigration policies – such as Title 42, originally introduced under the Trump Administration – that continue to disproportionately harm Black migrants.
• On February 14, 2022, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), alongside Representatives Judy Chu (CA-27) and Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), led 33 other House Democrats on a letter to Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, demanding answers about the agency’s justification for treating asylum seekers as a unique public health threat, how these expulsions are being coordinated, how asylum seekers being returned to dangerous situations are being cared for, and more.
• In April 2022, she joined her colleagues at a press conference reaffirming her support for President Biden’s decision to end Title 42. Full video of her remarks at the press conference is available here. Rep. Pressley applauded the Biden Administration’s end of Title 42 in a statement in April 2022.
• In September 2022, Rep. Pressley and Rep. Velázquez led 54 of their colleagues on a letter calling on the Biden Administration to immediately halt deportations to Haiti and provide humanitarian parole protections for those seeking asylum. The lawmakers’ letter followed the Administration’s resumption of deportation flights to Haiti as thousands of Haitian migrants continue to await an opportunity to make an asylum claim at the border. 
• In September 2022, Rep. Pressley joined her colleagues on the House Oversight Committee in demanding answers regarding the inhumane treatment of migrants in Del Rio, Texas, by Border Patrol agents on horseback and pushing to Biden Administration to end the ongoing use and weaponization of Title 42.
• On July 7, 2022, Rep. Pressley and Haiti Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Andy Levin (MI-09), Val Demings (FL-10) and Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) released a statement marking the one-year anniversary of the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.
• On November 21, 2021, Rep. Pressley and Senator Elizabeth Warren led the Massachusetts congressional delegation on a letter to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) calling on them to coordinate with the government agencies of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to assist newly arrived families from Haiti. 
• On October 18, 2021, Rep. Pressley, and Haiti Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Val Demings (FL-10), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), and Andy Levin (MI-09) issued a statement following the kidnapping of American and Canadian missionaries in Haiti.
• On October 18, 2021, Rep. Pressley issued a statement on the civil rights complaint filed by Haitian families demanding a federal investigation into the heinous actions perpetrated by federal officials at the border.
• On October 22, 2021, Rep. Pressley, along with Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney, Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and Reps. Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), sent a letter to Troy A. Miller, the Acting Administrator of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), demanding a briefing and answers regarding press reports of the inhumane treatment of migrants in Del Rio, Texas, by Border Patrol agents on horseback. 
• On September 17, 2021, Rep. Pressley and Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07) led 52 of their colleagues calling on the Biden Administration to immediately halt deportations to Haiti and take urgent action to address the concerns of the Haitian Diaspora after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti.
• On August 14, 2021, Rep. Pressley Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Andy Levin (MI-09) and Val Demings (FL-10) and Mondaire Jones (NY-17) released a statement regarding the recent earthquake in Haiti.
• On July 14, 2021, Rep. Pressley and Haiti Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Andy Levin (MI-09) and Val Demings (FL-10) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas calling on him to take a series of steps to support the Haitian diaspora amid ongoing political turmoil in Haiti.
• In July 2021, the Reps. Pressley, Clarke, Demings and Levin issued a statement condemning the assassination of President Moïse and calling for swift and decisive action to bring political stability and peace to Haiti and the Haitian people.
• In May 2021, on Haitian Flag Day, Reps. Pressley, Levin, Clarke and Demings announced the formation of the House Haiti Caucus, a Congressional caucus dedicated to pursuing a just foreign policy that puts the needs and aspirations of the Haitian people first.

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