A newly uncovered memo from the Biden White House, obtained by Senator Eric Schmitt, reveals plans from the administration's final days to expand Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to more than 3 million noncitizens. The memo acknowledges that prior court challenges had blocked many of former President Donald Trump's efforts to end TPS protections.

TPS is designed to protect foreign nationals from countries experiencing crises such as political unrest or natural disasters. While the Trump administration attempted to terminate TPS for groups including Haitians, Nepalese, Salvadorans, and Sudanese, lawsuits from pro-migrant advocates largely halted these efforts.

The memo states that stakeholders argue TPS could shield many vulnerable people from President-elect Trump's planned mass deportations and that these protections are likely to withstand legal challenges. It also notes that prior litigation during the first Trump administration successfully blocked TPS termination efforts, partly due to the administration's failure to provide sufficient factual support.

Senator Schmitt said he obtained the memo through his authority as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution from Archivist Edward Forst. He criticized the Biden administration's strategy, saying, "Biden tried to turn TPS into a 3.1-million-person deportation shield, protect Tren de Aragua members, and trap President Trump in years of litigation," adding that the move betrayed the "will of the people" who voted out liberal Democrats in the previous election.

The memo includes a chart estimating potential new TPS eligibility for approximately 1.5 million Guatemalans, 600,000 Ecuadorians, 464,000 Nicaraguans, 455,000 Venezuelans, and smaller groups from Ukraine, Sudan, and Afghanistan, totaling over 3.1 million people.

Schmitt also noted that one week after the January 2025 memo—erroneously dated 2024—Biden extended TPS protections to nearly 1 million noncitizens, describing this as "a concrete, mass-migration action."

Sources