Summary:
Senator Eric Schmitt released an internal White House memorandum from the final days of the Biden administration that outlined options to expand Temporary Protected Status — a temporary form of deportation protection and work authorisation — to more than 3.1 million noncitizens. The document, prepared by senior advisors, explicitly discussed using the programme to shield people from “President-elect Trump’s planned mass deportations” and noted that advocates were prepared to litigate against future terminations. One week after the memo, the Biden administration extended existing Temporary Protected Status covering nearly one million people. The large-scale new designations proposed in the document were not implemented.
Detailed Report
1. How the Memo Came to Light
Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, released an internal White House memorandum on Temporary Protected Status in late July 2026. Schmitt obtained the document from the Archivist of the United States through his authority as subcommittee chairman. The memorandum, prepared by senior advisors in the final days of the Biden administration, examined requests to expand the programme before the change of power.
2. Plans to Shield Over Three Million Non-Citizens
At the time of the memo there were 16 Temporary Protected Status designations in place covering 1.2 million people. The document examined options that would have expanded the total number of people under the programme to more than 3.1 million.
The memorandum recorded requests from stakeholders, including named Democratic senators and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, for redesignations of Venezuela, Nicaragua, Sudan, Ukraine and Afghanistan, and for new designations of Ecuador and Guatemala. An appendix listed potential numbers: 1.5 million Guatemalans, 600,000 Ecuadorians, 464,000 Nicaraguans, 455,000 Venezuelans, and smaller figures from Ukraine, Sudan and Afghanistan.
The memo stated: “Stakeholders argue that granting TPS will potentially protect many vulnerable people from President-elect Trump’s planned mass deportations, including some who live in ‘mixed status’ families with U.S. citizens. 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.”
3. Senator Schmitt’s Statements
Schmitt said the memorandum showed Biden’s senior advisors searching for ways to expand Temporary Protected Status in the final weeks of the administration in order to shield people from the incoming Trump administration’s planned deportations. He stated that the document “openly discusses rushing TPS extensions/redesignations and new designations before January 20 specifically to shield people from ‘President-elect Trump’s planned mass deportations.’”
On the scale of the proposal, he said: “The target list included: 455,000 Venezuelans, 464,000 Nicaraguans, 600,000 Ecuadorians, 1.5 million Guatemalans, [and] tens of thousands more from Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Sudan. De facto amnesty by executive decree.” He further noted that the Venezuela redesignation alone “would have shielded another 455,000 people from deportation, possibly including Tren de Aragua members.”
Schmitt has repeatedly characterised the programme as a system that begins as temporary and becomes permanent through repeated extensions. In Senate floor remarks on 23 July 2026 opposing an extension of Haitian Temporary Protected Status, he said: “Washington has invented a new definition of ‘temporary’: Permanent. … TPS was created for emergencies. Democrats have turned it into a one-way ratchet toward permanent mass immigration. … Temporary must mean temporary. And elections must have consequences.”
4. Action Taken After the Memo
One week after the memorandum, the Biden administration extended existing Temporary Protected Status designations covering nearly one million people from Venezuela, El Salvador, Ukraine and Sudan. These extensions allowed current holders to renew work authorisation and deportation protections. The large new designations for Guatemala and Ecuador, and the major redesignations discussed in the memo, were not carried out.
5. Background on the Protection Scheme
Temporary Protected Status is a form of temporary humanitarian relief created by Congress in 1990. The Secretary of Homeland Security may designate a country when conditions there temporarily prevent safe return. Eligible individuals already present in the United States may apply for protection from deportation and work authorisation. The status does not lead to permanent residency. Designations are time-limited and may be extended, redesignated or terminated.
Conclusion
An internal White House memorandum prepared in the final days of the Biden administration outlined options to expand Temporary Protected Status to more than 3.1 million noncitizens, framing the actions in part as protection against the incoming administration’s planned deportations. One week later existing protections for nearly one million people were extended. The broader new designations proposed in the document were not implemented.