Eric Schmitt Says Biden Memo Shows Last-Minute TPS Push for Millions
Sen. Eric Schmitt is putting a spotlight on a newly obtained memo that he says reveals a last-minute Biden White House push to keep millions of foreign nationals in the United States through Temporary Protected Status.
Schmitt, a Missouri Republican, said he obtained the memo from the Archivist of the United States through a special access request tied to his role as chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution.
https://x.com/SenEricSchmitt/status/2080381787981721710?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
According to Schmitt and reporting from Fox News, the January 2025 memo discussed expanding TPS to cover more than 3 million people. The memo reportedly listed about 1.5 million Guatemalans, 600,000 Ecuadorians, 464,000 Nicaraguans, and 455,000 Venezuelans as still eligible for the program.
It also referenced populations from Ukraine, Sudan, and Afghanistan who could potentially receive protection.
The timing is the key issue here. This was during Biden’s final stretch in office, after voters had already chosen President Trump to return to the White House on a platform that included tougher immigration enforcement. Republicans argue the memo shows Biden officials were looking for ways to lock in protections before Trump could act.
Fox News reported that the memo focused heavily on legal strategy, especially around past court fights over TPS. The memo argued that “granting TPS will potentially protect many vulnerable people from President-elect Trump’s planned mass deportations… They argue that these protections are likely to hold in court, and they are prepared to litigate efforts to terminate or slow down the implementation of TPS for specified nations by the Trump Administration.”
The memo also said, “prior federal litigation brought by advocates during the first Trump administration was successful in halting [its] efforts to terminate TPS, though that was due in large part to [its] failure to produce a factual record in support of termination, which is something that could be rectified,” according to Fox.
It continued: “The previous Administration unsuccessfully attempted to terminate TPS designations for Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, El Salvador, Nepal, and Honduras. Courts issued preliminary injunctions blocking the Trump Administration’s actions,” and added, “Your administration took actions to resolve this litigation by either redesignating Haiti or rescinding the terminations.”
The memo also reportedly reminded Biden’s “senior team” of TPS requests from Democratic senators, including Michael Bennet, Catherine Cortez-Masto, Cory Booker, Dick Durbin, Mazie Hirono, Ben Ray Lujan, Tammy Duckworth, and Alex Padilla.
“In addition, some stakeholders are requesting that your Administration designate nationals from new countries, most notably Ecuador and Guatemala, for TPS,” the memo states.
Schmitt blasted the effort in an interview with Fox News on Friday.
“My investigation uncovered that the Lame Duck Biden White House tried to keep millions of illegal aliens in our country by abusing the ‘Temporary’ Protected Status program, “Schmitt explained
“After the American people voted for President Trump’s promise to end the TPS scam, the Biden administration tried to subvert the will of the American people. This was mass amnesty-by-decree. America is for Americans, and it is our home—it is not a permanent refugee camp,” he added.
TPS is supposed to be temporary. That is the whole point. It is meant for foreign nationals who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disaster, or other extraordinary conditions. But critics have long argued that the program has been stretched far beyond its original purpose and turned into a backdoor immigration policy.
This memo will likely fuel that fight. For Republicans, it is more evidence that Biden’s immigration team was not just reacting to a border crisis. They were working to cement policies that would outlast them.