Biden Memo Planned TPS Expansion for 3.1 Million as Court Backs Trump Rollback

1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 24

A newly uncovered January 2025 White House memo showed Biden advisers weighing TPS moves that could have covered more than 3.1 million noncitizens before Trump returned to office.
The memo said the expansion could shield vulnerable migrants from Trump's planned mass deportations and force litigation, noting earlier lawsuits had blocked many first-term efforts to end TPS.
Its chart estimated eligibility for about 1.5 million Guatemalans, 600,000 Ecuadorians, 464,000 Nicaraguans and 455,000 Venezuelans, plus smaller groups from Ukraine, Sudan and Afghanistan.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, who said he obtained the document from the National Archives, argued the plan would have created a 'deportation shield'; he also said Biden extended TPS for nearly 1 million people a week later.
The disclosure landed as the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Trump's administration can terminate TPS for Haitian and Syrian migrants, strengthening its hand in unwinding protections.