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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska is the only Republican so far to sign a Democratic-led effort to force a House vote on legislation that would restore deportation protections for Afghan nationals in the United States.
The discharge petition, filed November 9 by Democratic Representatives Sam Liccardo of California and Jason Crow of Colorado, seeks to bring the Afghanistan TPS Act of 2026 to the House floor without action from Republican leadership. Under House rules, supporters of the discharge petition would need 218 signatures to trigger the process for floor consideration, leaving them 113 short at the current tally of 105.
While the underlying legislation began with bipartisan sponsorship, Bacon, who is retiring at the end of the current Congress, is so far the only Republican to join Democrats in signing the discharge petition. The bill was introduced in July by Crow and Liccardo, alongside Republican Representatives Bacon and María Elvira Salazar of Florida.
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Republicans Joe Wilson of South Carolina and Morgan Luttrell of Texas also signed up to support the legislation. Independent Congressman Kevin Kiley of California, who left the Republican Party in March, has also signed the discharge petition.
Newsweek has contacted the offices of House Speaker Mike Johnson and Bacon for comment and is awaiting responses.
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The legislation would designate Afghanistan for TPS through July 1, 2029, allowing eligible Afghan nationals already in the United States to apply for protection from deportation and authorization to work.
Applicants would be required to submit biometric and biographic information and undergo criminal and national security background checks. The legislation would generally require the Department of Homeland Security to process TPS and employment authorization applications within 90 days.
The legislation also has bipartisan support in the Senate. A companion measure was introduced August 6 by Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware and has seven cosponsors, including three Republicans: Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Four Democrats have also signed on as cosponsors. The bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it remains pending.
TPS is a humanitarian immigration program created by Congress in 1990 that allows nationals of countries experiencing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary conditions to temporarily live and work in the United States. It does not provide permanent legal status or a pathway to permanent residency.
The push comes after the Trump administration ended Afghanistan's TPS designation as part of an effort to terminate protections for nationals of several countries, including Haiti, Venezuela, Honduras, Nicaragua, Nepal, Cameroon, and Syria.
The Department of Homeland Security announced the termination in May 2025, and it took effect at 11:59 p.m. on July 14. Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said a government review found that conditions in Afghanistan had improved sufficiently that the country no longer met the requirements for TPS.
Afghanistan was first designated for TPS in 2022, following the U.S. military withdrawal and the Taliban's takeover of the country the previous year. The Biden administration later extended and redesignated Afghanistan for TPS through May 2025. DHS estimated that about 11,700 Afghan nationals held TPS when the Trump administration moved to terminate the designation.
The 2021 withdrawal followed the collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government and the Taliban's rapid return to power. During the subsequent evacuation from Kabul, a suicide bombing killed 13 U.S. service members and roughly 170 Afghan civilians.
Supporters of restoring TPS argue that Afghanistan remains unsafe under Taliban rule and that Afghans who assisted the U.S. government and military could face persecution if returned. The Trump administration, meanwhile, has maintained that TPS was designed by Congress to provide temporary rather than indefinite protection and has defended its decisions to terminate designations when it determines that the statutory conditions for them no longer exist.
ABC News reported in early November that dozens of Afghan immigrants were expected to be deported from the United States, potentially including relatives of Afghans who worked alongside U.S. forces during the war.
Lawyers, advocacy groups and families told the outlet that hundreds of Afghans were being held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention in Louisiana and that some detainees could be flown to Pakistan before being transferred to Afghanistan. Families and advocates have warned that returnees could face persecution or other danger under Taliban rule.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Daniel Orton and James Debens
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