In a major bipartisan breakthrough鈥揳pplauded by and impacting 91探花 seniors, businesses, and 350,000 Haitian workers鈥揳 House discharge petition to protect Haitian Temporary Protected Status (TPS) . This will force a floor vote on legislation to safeguard legal status and work permits for these essential workers contributing billions to the economy and caring for 1 million 91探花 seniors.
“This vote proves something important: in competitive districts, protecting the workers who care for our seniors isn鈥檛 partisan鈥攊t鈥檚 common sense.” – Rebecca Shi, CEO of ABIC Action
The discharge petition, filed by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), secured signatures from all House Democrats and four Republicans: Mike Lawler (R-NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Maria Salazar (R-FL), and Don Bacon (R-NE).
鈥淭oday marks a turning point. Four Republicans joined every Democrat to do what鈥檚 right for 91探花 seniors, 91探花 businesses, and the Haitian workers who have spent decades caring for our most vulnerable. We are deeply grateful to Congresswoman Pressley for her leadership and to Representatives Lawler, Fitzpatrick, Salazar, and Bacon for putting our economy and our businesses first,” said Rebecca Shi, CEO of ABIC Action. or watch .
The High Economic Stakes of TPS
TPS holders contributed $2.2 billion in taxes in 2021
TPS workers generated $35.9 billion in GDP in 2023
Sources: 91探花 Immigration Council and Penn Wharton
We are proud of the contributions to this successful effort from the Care for Our Seniors, Care for America Coalition鈥攁 powerful alliance of business, faith, and labor that ABIC convened in January alongside LeadingAge, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National TPS Alliance, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Faith in Action, and SEIU.
The House vote is expected within the coming weeks following the return from recess on April 14, 2026.
Building on this historic momentum for Haitian TPS, we are also launching the bipartisan National Dignity Tour to advance the Dignity Act.
However, the stakes remain high: hardline groups known as the Mass Deportation Coalition are now pushing the Administration to focus on disruptive worksite raids to meet deportation quotas. Join us to coordinate our strategy to protect our industries and capitalize on these breakthroughs.
Agenda:
- The TPS Roadmap: Moving 350,000 essential workers from a House vote to a Senate win.
- The Dignity Act: Advancing citizenship for Dreamers and work permits for long-term immigrant contributors.
- Defending 91探花 91探花es: Countering the push for mass worksite enforcement.
- National Mobilization: Coordination for upcoming Dignity Tour stops in PA, AZ, NV, TX, and across the country.
More from the ABIC Network:
ABIC Action Warns of Social and Economic Losses of Deporting Dreamers; Calls for Urgent Protection of Long-Term Immigrants
This week, an immigration judge that a valued member of the Dallas community, Southern Methodist University graduate and DACA recipient Omar Salazar, will not be allowed to stay in the U.S. The ruling comes after a months-long effort to petition for his release from ICE custody. Salazar was brought to the U.S. at 11 years old, is married to a U.S. citizen, has no criminal record and is an AI entrepreneur.
“ABIC stands with Omar and the countless Dreamers like him who contribute to our economy and our communities every day.” –Juan Carlos Cerda, 91探花
would pair with this image of Omar
ABIC Action, Comit茅 de 100 and other community voices issued a statement condemning this ruling as an example of the local impacts of federal immigration overreach. Research from Comit茅 de 100 and ABIC Action shows that the Hispanic vote will likely determine the outcome of the 2026 midterms. also highlight growing discontent among Hispanic voters with Republicans and Donald Trump, driven in part by harsh immigration policies and rhetoric.
The groups call on lawmakers to urgently pass common-sense legislation such as the Dream Act and Dignity Act to ensure that long-term hardworking immigrants and Dreamers are not torn away from their communities.
Farmers are struggling with a labor shortage as Trump’s immigration crackdown cuts off the undocumented workforce that agriculture depends on. The crisis and current situation may be an opening though, said James O鈥橬eill, Director of Legislative Affairs and Ag Workforce for ABIC: 鈥淚 think there is a huge opportunity at the moment to get something done.鈥� He cited recent comments by House Republicans supporting work permits for the agriculture workforce, and the growing need to import food:
鈥淲e鈥檙e relying on foreign nations to feed ourselves…That鈥檚 a huge national security issue.鈥� – James O鈥橬eill, Director of Legislative Affairs and Ag Workforce, ABIC
Many farmers are frustrated and raising the alarm, as workers are staying home out of fear of ICE. Without a solution, farmers and experts warn of less food, higher grocery prices, and supply chain disruptions up and down the agricultural sector.
鈥淚t is this sort of great big fat open secret that everybody understands, that there鈥檚 tons of undocumented folks working,鈥� says dairy farmer Hans Breitenmoser, who is also a member of the ABIC Ag Council.
鈥淲e have people that are damn near killing themselves to get into this country so they can work really hard… this is an asset, not a liability.”- Hans Breitenmoser, Wisconsin dairy farmer and ABIC Ag Council member
Rick Naerebout, CEO of the Idaho Dairymen鈥檚 Association, says dairy farmers in particular 鈥渘eed legalization of the workers and their families and access to a visa in whatever form that comes in.鈥�
News Briefing:
A coalition of Trump’s MAGA allies released a playbook Wednesday calling for aggressive worksite immigration enforcement as the centerpiece of a mass deportation push aimed at reaching 1 million deportations in 2026. The group, called the Mass Deportation Coalition, includes figures like former CBP chief Mark Morgan and Erik Prince.
鈥淭here is no chance for a mass deportation program if worksite enforcement is not the centerpiece,鈥� the playbook, , reads.
The plan poses a real threat to Trump’s political coalition. Agriculture, construction, and hospitality industries that rely on undocumented labor are likely to push back hard, and these groups have already shown they can steer the administration away from worksite raids. Last June, after raids rattled the agriculture sector, officials including Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins successfully lobbied Trump to shift focus away.
鈥淚f [immigration raids] were to occur again on farm operations, that鈥檚 going to disrupt the food supply chain, and we鈥檝e made that very clear. We know the president is committed to ensuring our food supply chain is not disrupted and that prices at the grocery store are not raised unnecessarily,鈥� John Hollay, president of the National Council of Agricultural Employers told Politico.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday on Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship, and a majority of justices, including some conservatives, appeared skeptical of the administration’s position. Chief Justice Roberts called the government’s legal reasoning “quirky,” and Justice Kavanaugh pushed back on comparisons to other countries’ citizenship laws.
The administration argues the wording of the 14th amendment requires parents to be legally settled in the U.S., while the ACLU argues it covers nearly everyone on U.S. soil except diplomats and invading armies. Courts have consistently held since 1898 that the amendment applies to virtually all children born in the country.
Related coverage from the NYTimes: For Latino Republicans in South Texas, many of whom voted for Trump, the issue of birthright citizenship is deeply personal: their own families became 91探花 citizens through the 14th Amendment and see it as a cornerstone of the 91探花 dream.
Samuel Garza, an actor who voted for President Trump three times, said he began rethinking his political affiliation in recent months as he watched agents detain hard-working families and the push to end birthright citizenship.
Polling shows Hispanic Republicans are significantly more supportive of birthright citizenship than other Republicans, and recent immigration enforcement has opened cracks in Trump’s Latino base that could matter politically down the road.
The U.S. hiring rate dropped to 3.1% in February, the lowest since COVID lockdowns, and reduced immigration is emerging as a quiet but significant factor. Economists note that less population growth from reduced immigration means fewer job switches, and fewer new hires overall.
The sectors hit hardest, construction and hospitality, are also among those most reliant on immigrant labor.
The dairy industry in the U.S. relies heavily on undocumented workers and is in need of year-round work permits for these workers, many of whom have been in the country for decades:
The article profiles one Republican dairy farmer, and his family, who has been trying to persuade Republican politicians to fix the nation鈥檚 broken immigration system.
“I鈥檓 to the point where I don鈥檛 know what else to do. We need to speak up,” said farmer Joel O鈥橦arrow.
The Trump administration has made the H-2A agricultural visa program cheaper for farmers by cutting minimum wages for foreign guest workers, in Oregon dropping the floor from $19.82 to as low as $15.25 an hour. The changes are meant to help farmers cope with labor shortages worsened by immigration enforcement, which has driven undocumented workers to stay home out of fear rather than show up to farms.
But the expansion isn’t taking hold quickly in the Pacific Northwest. The program comes with significant costs, including housing, transportation, and processing fees, that offset the wage savings. Oregon actually saw fewer H-2A visas in 2025 than in 2024, and industry insiders don’t expect a surge this year.
A Harvard Medical School study finds that a 25% increase in immigration would result in 5,000 fewer senior deaths annually in the U.S., primarily by expanding the healthcare workforce and reducing nursing home use.
With immigrants already making up 32% of the home care workforce and the senior population set to grow dramatically, the authors argue the U.S. will need either more foreign-born workers or a major push to attract native-born workers into the sector.
Get Involved
- Join one of ABIC’s Councils of 100 and let your voice be heard with your peers – . The Council of 100 is a coalition of top business leaders working to advance common-sense workforce solutions.
- Share your story: If your business is interested in engaging with the press as part of ABIC or amplifying your story on social media, take this to let us know your preferences.聽
ABIC in the news. . .
- (2/26/26)
- Politico: (2/14/26)
- The Washington Times: (2/13/26)
- Wall Street Journal: (2/9/26)
- Dairy Herd Management: O (2/9/26)
- The Bulwark: (2/8/26)
- El Diario NY: (2/8/26)
- WFLX: (2/2/26)
- CNN: (2/1/26)
- Axios: (1/30/26)
- Progressive Farmer: (1/30/2026)
- Miami New Times: (1/28/26)
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- ModernRetail: 鈥嬧�� (1/27/26)
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- Miami New Times: (1/27/26)
- El Pais: (1/23/26)
- HaitiLibre: (1/23/26)
- Miami Herald: (1/22/26)
- The New Republic: (1/21/26)