Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican, publicized what he said was a Biden White House memorandum describing options to broaden Temporary Protected Status and potentially make millions more people eligible. Fox News reported the document was shared publicly in late July 2026.
Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri, a Republican, said he obtained and released a White House memo he described as an internal planning document from the closing days of President Joe Biden’s administration.
According to Fox News, the memo laid out ways the outgoing administration could expand or extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) — a program that grants eligible nationals of designated countries temporary permission to live and work in the United States and protection from deportation. (foxnews.com)
The memo described the Biden administration as having overseen TPS eligibility for roughly 1.2 million people from 16 countries, a figure consistent with Pew Research Center’s March 2024 analysis of TPS eligibility under Biden. (pewresearch.org)
Fox News reported the memo also referenced requests to add new TPS designations, “most notably Ecuador and Guatemala,” and included estimates that, taken together with other possible actions, could have expanded TPS eligibility to more than 3 million people. (foxnews.com)
Schmitt argued the memo showed an effort to preserve deportation protections ahead of the transition to the Trump administration and to anticipate likely legal challenges, citing earlier court rulings that blocked parts of Trump’s first-term attempts to terminate TPS for several countries. (foxnews.com)
In public comments quoted by Fox News, Schmitt said the memo’s approach could have shielded some people tied to Venezuela-based gang Tren de Aragua by keeping Venezuelans eligible for TPS. Fox News said the memo discussed TPS litigation risks and referenced Venezuela redesignations as part of the broader TPS landscape. (foxnews.com)
