Dem-led push to extend protections for Haitians faces outrage after brutal hammer killing
A bipartisan push to extend temporary legal status for Haitian nationals in the United States is facing scrutiny after a Florida woman was brutally killed by a Haitian illegal immigrant earlier this month.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., is expected to force a vote as early as this week on legislation that would require the Trump administration to extend temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitians for three years.
The legislative push comes as Haitian national Rolbert Joachim, 40, is accused of killing a mother of two with a hammer outside a Fort Myers gas station earlier in April. Officials say he bludgeoned the 51-year-old woman multiple times in the head. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Just a week prior to the alleged murder, Pressley, a member of "the Squad," obtained the necessary 218 signatures for her discharge petition to trigger a vote on her underlying bill to extend TPS protections for Haitians.
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She would not have been successful without a sliver of GOP support.
Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Don Bacon, R-Neb., crossed party lines in support of forcing a chamber-wide vote on Pressley’s bill.
"Removing the TPS status would cost 350,000 healthcare workers their ability to work at a time when we’re already facing serious workforce shortages," Bacon said in a statement. "I’ve heard from healthcare providers and business leaders across Nebraska who are concerned about the impact this would have on patient care and our economy. I don’t see the goodness of deporting people who are here legally, who are working, and who contribute to our country."
A discharge petition is a legislative maneuver that Democrats or rogue Republicans can use to circumvent House GOP leadership and trigger chamber-wide votes on legislation that has majority support. Successful discharge petitions are relatively rare, given that most members in the majority are loathe to defy party leadership.
House conservatives have sharply criticized the TPS measure, which is expected to advance out of the chamber following Pressley’s successful discharge petition.
"This discharge petition is yet another attempt to shield TPS-holding illegal aliens from removal, including dangerous criminals, obstructing the Trump administration’s rightful efforts to restore the rule of law," Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital.
"Members of Congress have a sacred and exclusive duty to our American constituents, not to foreign nationals," Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said.
Joachim first entered the United States in 2022 and was released into the country under former President Joe Biden, according to the Department of Homeland Security. He was granted TPS protection, which reportedly lasted through 2024. His legal status notably thwarted a final order of removal that a federal judge issued against him in 2022.
President Donald Trump, who is seeking to terminate TPS for Haitians, has pointed to the Florida killing as a prime example of why the program should be scrapped.
"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 wrote in a Truth Social post. "The video of her brutal slaying is one of the most vicious things you will ever see."
"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," he added.
The Trump administration moved to revoke the TPS program for Haitians in February, arguing that conditions are improving in their home country and that their shielding from deportation runs counter to American interests. The termination was immediately hit with a lawsuit and the Supreme Court is set to hear a case on the TPS revocation later this month.
"The simple solution to stopping this problem is to deport EVERY illegal, no exceptions," Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., an immigration hawk, told Fox News Digital.
More than 350,000 Haitian nationals in the United States have TPS designations, according to recent court filings. Just a fraction of that cohort are lawful permanent residents (LPRs).
TPS authorizes certain foreign nationals to work in the United States and provides immunity from deportation if their home country is grappling with a humanitarian crisis or armed conflict. If individuals from that country are already living in the United States illegally, they are allowed to stay, albeit on a temporary basis.
Pressley’s bill is likely to face hurdles in the Republican-controlled Senate, given the upper chamber’s 60-vote threshold. Trump would almost certainly veto the measure if it were to pass Congress, and the legislation’s proponents would likely struggle to cobble together a veto-proof majority.
"The success of this discharge petition is a testament to our collective organizing and the strength of our broad, diverse movement to affirm the humanity, dignity, and safety of our Haitian siblings," Pressley wrote in a release.
Fox News Digital reached out to Pressley for comment but did not hear back.