House Reaches 218 Threshold to Force Vote on Extending TPS

Faith in Action issued this statement as the House reached the threshold to force a floor vote on Temporary Protected Status for 350,000 hardworking Haitian immigrants.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Yesterday evening, the U.S. House of Representatives made history: 218 Members — including 4 Republicans — signed Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley’s Discharge Petition No. 15 (H. Res. 965), forcing a floor vote to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 350,000 Haitian men, women, and children living and working in the United States.

We celebrate this milestone as a testament to the power of sustained community organizing and call on the United States Senate to act swiftly once the House votes.

“Faith cannot be neutral when families are put at risk. Yesterday, 218 members of Congress answered the call of conscience. We give thanks — and we keep organizing,” said Bishop Dwayne Royster, Executive Director of Faith in Action.

This did not happen in a vacuum. It happened because thousands of clergy and people of faith made calls, sent emails, visited congressional offices, organized in their communities, and refused to give up. It happened because Haitian diaspora communities from Boston to Miami to New York carried the moral weight of this fight with dignity and perseverance. And it happened because four Republicans — Representatives Salazar, Fitzpatrick, Lawler, and Bacon — had the courage to cross party lines and stand on the right side of history.

“This win belongs to the people — to the clergy who made the calls, the community members who traveled to Washington, and the Haitian families who never stopped demanding to be seen,” said Claudette David, Faith in Action. “The Haitian diaspora community and friends of Haiti built these relationships one conversation at a time, and today that work changed history.”

Faith in Action is especially grateful to Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA), whose tenacious, principled leadership made this moment possible. She stood with her constituents and refused to accept that Congress was powerless to act, and 218 of her colleagues proved her right.

“Faith in Action International has been honored to stand alongside the Haitian people — in Haiti and throughout the diaspora. From our sisters and brothers organizing for change in Haiti, we know firsthand what is at stake. We know the danger people experience when they are deported to Haiti. Haitian families with TPS are our neighbors, our coworkers, our fellow parishioners, and parents raising children in our communities. Protecting Haitian families in the United States and building justice in Haiti are not two struggles. They are one,” said Dr. Francois Pierre-Louis, Haiti Director, Faith in Action International.

Without protection, hundreds of thousands of families face forced separation and mass deportation — and those deported would be returned to a country struggling against widespread gang violence, the absence of a functioning government, and a humanitarian crisis so severe that the U.S. government itself warns American citizens not to travel there.

We believe that how a nation treats the most vulnerable among us is a measure of its soul. Scripture calls us to act justly, to love mercy, and to defend those whose lives are in peril. Today, 218 members of the House of Representatives answered that call.

When Congress returns the week of April 14, Congresswoman Pressley will move to schedule a floor vote. If the House passes this bill — and Faith in Action believes it will — the pressure will fall squarely on the United States Senate to act. Faith in Action calls on Senate leaders to bring this legislation to the floor without delay. The families whose lives hang in the balance cannot afford political paralysis.

“Faith in Action stands in solidarity with every family facing mass deportation — Haitian, Venezuelan, Syrian, and beyond. No community should live in fear of losing the protections they depend on. This fight belongs to all of us,” said Alex Gonzalez, National Immigration Campaign Manager, Faith in Action.

The vote is not yet taken. The work is not yet done. But today we give thanks — for the Haitian diaspora community who made their voices heard, faith and lay leaders who stood in the breach, Members of Congress who made this issue a priority, and for the God who does not abandon us in times of trouble.

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About Faith in Action

Faith in Action is one of the largest faith-based community organizing networks in the United States, with affiliates in 300 cities and 24 states. Faith in Action organizes people of faith to build power and advocate for social and racial justice. Learn more at www.faithinaction.org.

About Faith in Action International

Faith in Action International is a global network of people of faith organizing for change in 15 countries across the Caribbean, Central America, Africa, Eastern Europe, and South America. In Haiti, Faith in Action International supports its affiliate, the People’s Organization for the Development of Haiti (OPODHA), organizing in 74 communities across the Northeast and North Departments and based in Terrier. Faith in Action International worked with allies in the Haitian diaspora to win passage of the Haiti Criminal Collusion Act in 2025 to address the underlying causes of violence and political dysfunction in Haiti. Learn more at www.faithinactioninternational.org.