Trump’s Attacks On Temporary Protected Status Program Are Throwing Communities, Economy Into Chaos, Democrats Say

December 17, 2025

Washington, D.C. (December 17, 2025)—Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, led subcommittee Democrats in exposing the Trump Administration’s lawless and indiscriminate crusade against legal immigrants, taking aim at the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program and recklessly throwing more than one million individuals into legal limbo.

The hearing included testimony from: Mr. Jimmy Williams, Jr., President, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades; Mr. George Fishman, Legal Fellow, Center for Immigration Studies; Mr. Larry Celaschi, Councilman, Borough of Charleroi, Pennsylvania; and Mr. James Rogers, Senior Counsel, America First Legal.

In its quest for mass deportations and to meet Stephen Miller’s arrest quotas, the Trump Administration has done everything it can to end legal immigration, including dramatically limiting the use of Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

Ranking Member Jayapal asked Mr. Williams if his union members feel safe coming into work amid the Trump Administration’s lawless crackdown. He explained: “No. We have had horror story after horror story of members of ours that have been granted status in this country, that have been targeted on the job site for removal, followed to their homes and on the way to work, being pulled over by local law enforcement and being detained, only not to be heard from again.”
Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García said: “The Trump Administration and its loyalists in Congress continue their efforts to persecute immigrants and undermine our legal immigration system. Today, their target is Temporary Protected Status. They are here to scapegoat and demonize people with TPS, to justify Trump and Miller’s decision to send a million people with legal status back to countries with extreme levels of armed conflict and other conditions.”

Ending TPS has thrown more than 1 million individuals into legal limbo—making people who have been lawfully present in the U.S. for decades suddenly undocumented and throwing their communities into chaos.

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon said: “In my district and across the country, Venezuelans, Haitians, Afghans and others living here under TPS status have had the rug pulled out from under them. TPS is a bipartisan program created by Congress, which allows people from countries facing war, unrest, natural disasters to stay in the U.S. until it’s safe to return.”
Rep. Deborah Ross said: “U.S. law permits TPS designation for nationals of a country when ongoing armed conflict poses a serious threat to their personal safety. I recently sent a letter to the Administration with the Ranking Member calling out the hypocrisy of revoking TPS for South Sudan, a country plagued by armed clashes, with DHS claiming that there have been improvements in the civil safety outlook. But at the very same time, the Administration has designated South Sudan as a Level 4 travel advisory zone, ‘Do Not Travel,’ stating that the armed conflict is ongoing and includes fighting between various political and ethnic groups.”

The Trump Administration’s anti-immigrant policies have already wreaked havoc on the U.S. economy.

Rep. García asked: “Do these raids at work sites make workers safer, or does it put them at risk?” Mr. Williams explained: “It puts them at extreme risk. And listen, you can’t work safely when you’re worried about being targeted for removal. You know, the truth is, people just won’t show up to work, which we’ve seen in North Carolina and Florida, where you have a disproportionate amount of TPS holders.”
Rep. Jasmine Crockett said: “We’re in the middle of the largest, most inhumane deportation program in American history. And guess what? Housing is still unaffordable. Health care is still too expensive. Groceries are still too expensive. Wages aren’t keeping up with inflation. Jobs are still being outsourced. So maybe it’s not the immigrants, maybe it's the failed Republican policies.”
Ranking Member Jayapal said: “TPS has also allowed hundreds of thousands of people to work legally, often in industries that are already experiencing severe labor shortages. These are folks working in construction, hospitality, food processing, and manufacturing—the kinds of jobs that keep our economy running and that many businesses are struggling to fill. They pay taxes, support local businesses, and contribute billions of dollars to our economy every single year. In all, TPS holders contribute about $21 billion annually to the U.S. economy, and they pay $5.2 billion in combined federal, payroll, state, and local taxes. They also contribute about $690 million annually to Social Security.”