Published on
The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 350,000 Haitian nationals, defying President Donald Trump — but Space Coast congressmen Mike Haridopolos and Randy Fine stood firmly with the president, voting against the measure.
The bill, H.R. 1689, passed with a bipartisan coalition of Democrats and a handful of Republicans, extending Haiti’s TPS designation for three years through January 2029. The measure would shield eligible Haitian nationals from deportation and allow them to continue working legally in the United States.
Haridopolos, who represents Florida’s 8th Congressional District covering Brevard County and the Space Coast, and Fine, who represents Florida’s 6th Congressional District, both voted no — joining the overwhelming majority of House Republicans in backing the Trump administration’s position that the TPS program has outlived its purpose.
The final vote came one day after a key procedural discharge vote Wednesday passed 219-209, with six Republicans breaking ranks to advance the bill. Haridopolos and Fine voted no on that procedural vote as well, according to the official House clerk roll call.
A Rare Bipartisan Rebuke of Trump
The Republicans who crossed the aisle on the final vote 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, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Mike Carey and Mike Turner of Ohio — many of whom represent districts with significant Haitian diaspora communities.
Salazar and Gimenez, both South Florida Republicans, were among the first in their party to sign the discharge petition that forced the vote. Their districts encompass Miami-Dade County, home to one of the largest Haitian communities in the United States.
The discharge petition was led by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., a member of “the Squad,” who used the rarely successful parliamentary maneuver to bypass House leadership and force the chamber to go on record. It marked the first time an immigration-related discharge petition had ever reached the required 218-signature threshold.
Trump Pushes Back Hard
President Trump made clear his opposition, spotlighting the April killing of a Fort Myers woman at a gas station, allegedly by Rolbert Joachim, 40, a Haitian national who had received TPS status under the Biden administration.
“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 on Truth Social, adding that the killing should be enough for judges to “STOP impeding my Administration’s Immigration Policies.”
The White House Office of Management and Budget formally declared that the administration “strongly opposes” H.R. 1689 and that Trump would be advised to veto the legislation if it reached his desk.
Largely Symbolic — For Now
Despite passing the House, the bill faces long odds. Senate Republicans are not expected to hold a vote on renewing TPS for Haitians, making the measure largely symbolic. Even if it somehow cleared the Senate, Trump would almost certainly veto it.
The fate of Haitian TPS holders may ultimately be decided not by Congress but by the U.S. Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear oral arguments on April 29 in Miot v. Trump, a consolidated case challenging the Trump administration’s termination of Haiti’s TPS designation. A ruling is expected by late June.
A federal district judge in Washington, D.C., issued a stay in February blocking the TPS termination, ruling the administration had not followed proper rulemaking procedures. The D.C. Circuit declined to lift that stay, leaving TPS protections temporarily in place while the legal battle continues.
Local Officials Weigh In
The vote came the same day a coalition of Haitian-American elected officials across Florida — led by state Rep. Dotie Joseph, D-North Miami — sent an open letter to the Florida congressional delegation urging a yes vote on H.R. 1689.
Among the signatories was Donny Felix, the former Palm Bay Deputy Mayor, lending a direct Space Coast voice to the pro-TPS push. The letter argued that Florida’s approximately 93,000 Haitian TPS workers contribute an estimated $2.6 billion annually to the state’s economy.
“Florida’s Haitian community is a cornerstone of our state’s economy, culture, and identity,” Joseph said in a statement accompanying the letter.
Haridopolos and Fine were not among those persuaded. Both sided with the Trump administration and the majority of their Republican colleagues in opposing the extension, consistent with their broader support for the president’s immigration enforcement agenda.
