A stunning internal memo from the final days of the Biden administration has surfaced, revealing a calculated plot to dramatically expand Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 3 million noncitizens. This eleventh-hour maneuver, uncovered by Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), appears to be a cynical attempt to sabotage President Donald Trump's America First immigration agenda and saddle a returning Trump White House with an even more overwhelming border crisis.
TPS, meant for populations facing genuine, temporary crises, has long been abused by radical left-leaning administrations to grant de facto permanent residency. While President Trump consistently sought to uphold the integrity of the program by terminating designations for countries like Haiti, Nepal, El Salvador, and Sudan, his efforts were often met with relentless lawsuits from pro-migrant activists.
Indeed, the Supreme Court recently delivered a significant victory for Trump's immigration policies, ruling 6-3 that the administration can terminate TPS for Haitian and Syrian migrants – a clear vindication of his common-sense approach to national sovereignty.
Yet, as Americans voted for a return to border security, the Biden White House was busy crafting plans to subvert their will. "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," Senator Schmitt told Fox News Digital. "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."
The memo itself laid bare the Biden team's intent, arguing 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." This wasn't about humanitarian aid; it was about weaponizing the legal system to undermine a future administration and permanently alter America's demographics.
The document even conceded that "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." Translation: they admitted Trump's legal battles were hampered by procedural issues, and they were ready to tighten their legal arguments for a full-frontal assault on future deportations.
Schmitt, who obtained the January 2025 memo (erroneously dated "2024") from the Archivist of the United States, slammed the proposal as a betrayal of public trust. "Biden tried to turn TPS into a 3.1-million-person deportation shield, protect Tren de Aragua members, and trap President Trump in years of litigation," he declared, warning of the dangerous implications for national security when a temporary program becomes a shield for criminal elements.
The memo proposed an astonishing expansion, identifying potential new TPS eligibility for approximately 1.5 million Guatemalans, 600,000 Ecuadorians, 464,000 Nicaraguans, 455,000 Venezuelans, and thousands more from Ukraine, Sudan, and Afghanistan – totaling over 3.1 million individuals. To make matters worse, Biden's "Senior Advisors" recommended creating 2.1 million *new* TPS designees in his final weeks, despite acknowledging that applications alone take six months to process. Luckily, this mass influx was thwarted, with ongoing deportations of Ecuadorians and Guatemalans now taking place.
It wasn't just Biden's inner circle pushing this radical agenda; several Democrat Senators, including Michael Bennet, Catherine Cortez-Masto, Cory Booker, Richard Durbin, Mazie Hirono, Ben Ray Lujan, Tammy Duckworth, and Alex Padilla, were actively lobbying for new TPS actions, including designations for Ecuador and Guatemala.
While the full scope of the memo's proposals was not implemented, Biden did proceed to extend TPS protections for nearly 1 million noncitizens shortly after the memo's date, confirming that this was indeed a live strategy to fundamentally reshape America's immigration landscape before a new administration could take office.
Senator Schmitt aptly summarized the sentiment of millions of Americans: the U.S. should not be a "get-rich-quick scheme for the third world." This unearthed memo is a stark reminder of the lengths to which the radical left will go to undermine national sovereignty, ignore the rule of law, and thwart the will of the American people, all while pretending their actions are for the greater good. It underscores the critical importance of a strong, America First leadership committed to securing our borders and prioritizing the safety and future of American citizens.
