Rep. Mike Lawler broke with the Trump administration Thursday after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the president’s rollback of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian and Syrian nationals.
The New York Republican said he still believes President Donald Trump has the authority to end TPS, but warned that cutting off protections for Haitians now would collide with chaos in Haiti and labor pressures inside the American healthcare system.
“While I have never disputed the ability of the President to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS), I strongly disagree with ending Haitian TPS at this time. First, the situation on the ground in Haiti is a humanitarian and political disaster and continues to warrant an extension,” Lawler wrote on X.
His warning followed the Supreme Court’s Mullin v. Doe decision, which denied Syrian and Haitian TPS holders a court-ordered pause while they challenged the rescission.
The congressman also leaned on the State Department’s level 4 Haiti advisory, which tells Americans to avoid the country and evacuate amid gang violence.
“The gangs are in charge of the country, engaged in gun and drug trafficking, and kidnapping innocent Haitians,” Lawler continued.
He also argued that ending protections would immediately hit hospitals, nursing homes and disability-care providers that rely on Haitian TPS holders.
“Of the 350,000+ lawful Haitian TPS holders, roughly 1/3rd work in our healthcare system. Immediately shutting off TPS will create a crisis in our hospitals, nursing homes, and in the I/DD community,” he said.
🎓Support Defending Education’s mission to expose political agendas in America’s classrooms and restore quality education for all! 🎓 Help protect students and strengthen education nationwide ➡️➡️➡️ DONATE TODAY!!! 🇺🇸
The Rockland County-area congressman asked the administration for a temporary off-ramp if it moves forward with ending the designation.
“I’m asking the administration to allow for an orderly process by which Haitian TPS holders can maintain their work authorization while their immigration cases are adjudicated over the next six months, if the revocation of TPS moves forward,” Lawler concluded.
“Furthermore, I believe the Senate should take up my legislation with Congresswoman Gillen to temporarily extend Haitian TPS to address these issues.”
Congress created TPS in 1990 to shield foreign nationals from deportation when war, disasters or extraordinary conditions make return unsafe.
Haitians first received the protection after the devastating 2010 earthquake.
Trump’s first attempt to unwind Haitian TPS came in 2017, only to be tied up by federal challenges through the rest of his first term.
The second-term push went further in 2025, when then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ended the Haitian designation as the administration targeted TPS for 13 of 17 countries.
Rep. Laura Gillen of New York, who partnered with Lawler on legislation to extend Haitian TPS temporarily, denounced the court’s decision.
In a statement, Gillen called the ruling a “cruel and harmful decision … [that] now puts millions of our friends and neighbors’ lives at risk.”
“I have stood shoulder to shoulder with our Haitian community on Long Island throughout this fight, pushed back against the administration, and fought this termination in the courts,” she remarked. “I will not relent in securing their safety.”
The 6-3 decision strengthened the administration’s hand, with the court saying federal judges cannot second-guess executive-branch TPS termination decisions.
Roughly 330,000 Haitians and nearly 4,000 Syrians enrolled in TPS could now be exposed to deportation without another lawful status.
Lawler’s office later issued a formal statement emphasizing that his objections were not new.
“Congressman Lawler has consistently advocated for extending Temporary Protected Status for Haitian nationals. He co-led H.R. 1689 with Rep. Laura Gillen, urged the Administration on multiple occasions to extend TPS protections, led a bipartisan effort with local officials in support of Haitian TPS recipients, issued an open letter to the Haitian community, and voted in favor of legislation after signing the discharge petition to bring the legislation to the House floor,” the statement read.
The same statement highlighted Lawler’s bipartisan branding and described his 17th District as a suburban seat north of New York City spanning parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess and Westchester counties.
The White House framed the ruling as vindication for Trump.
“Today, the Supreme Court affirmed what President Trump has always maintained: temporary protected status is, by definition, temporary,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement about the TPS ruling.
“It was never intended to be a pathway to permanent status or legal residency and it is committed to the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security,” Jackson wrote.
“The Trump administration continues to lawfully end the egregious abuses to our immigration system that have hurt Americans for years.”
Democrats reacted with fury, casting the decision as a humanitarian failure.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York blasted the ruling as a “cruel and inhumane decision,” saying the court had “turned its back” on Haitians and Syrians.
“TPS exists for exactly this reason: to protect people when returning home is unsafe,” Schumer wrote. “Haiti and Syria remain unsafe today. Instead of showing basic humanity, Donald Trump and this Court have chosen fear, chaos, and cruelty.”
Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, speaking outside the Supreme Court, described herself as “shell-shocked” and called the decision “very cruel and lawless.”
Pressley pointed back to the State Department warning, which still cites kidnapping, terrorism and other threats in Haiti.
“If it’s not safe to visit, it certainly is not safe to deport 360,000 of our Haitian neighbors,” she argued.
Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois pushed the fight toward immigration reform, already a major pressure point ahead of the midterms.
“Immigrant families are our neighbors, and they shouldn’t have to live in fear while their futures are decided by anti-immigrant extremists in Washington,” he commented in a statement.
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas praised the ruling from the opposite direction, arguing that temporary protection should not become permanent permission to stay.
“Temporary Protective Status is supposed to be just that—temporary,” he wrote. “It’s not a permanent green card for illegal aliens who abuse taxpayer dollars. Today, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of common sense and our national sovereignty.”
