Dem-led push to extend protections for Haitians faces outrage after brutal hammer killing
A bipartisan push to extend temporary legal status for Haitian nationals in the United States is facing scrutiny after a Florida woman was brutally killed by a Haitian illegal immigrant...
By Fox News · Fox News
A bipartisan push to extend temporary legal status for Haitian nationals in the United States is facing scrutiny after a Florida woman was brutally killed by a Haitian illegal immigrant earlier this month. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., is expected to force a vote as early as this week on legislation that would require the Trump administration to extend temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitians for three years. The legislative push comes as Haitian national Rolbert Joachim, 40, is accused of killing a mother of two with a hammer outside a Fort Myers gas station earlier in April. Officials say he bludgeoned the 51-year-old woman multiple times in the head. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Just a week prior to the alleged murder, Pressley, a member of "the Squad," obtained the necessary 218 signatures for her discharge petition to trigger a vote on her underlying bill to extend TPS protections for Haitians. WILL CHAMBERLAIN: 'MARYLAND DAD' IS PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHY REP SALAZAR'S AMNESTY SCAM MUST FAIL She would not have been successful without a sliver of GOP support. Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Don Bacon, R-Neb., crossed party lines in support of forcing a chamber-wide vote on Pressley’s bill. "Removing the TPS status would cost 350,000 healthcare workers their ability to work at a time when we’re already facing serious workforce shortages," Bacon said in a statement. "I’ve heard from healthcare providers and business leaders across Nebraska who are concerned about the impact this would have on patient care and our economy. I don’t see the goodness of deporting people who are here legally, who are working, and who contribute to our country." A discharge petition is a legislative maneuver that Democrats or rogue Republicans can use to circumvent House GOP leadership and trigger chamber-wide votes on legislation that has majority support. Successful discharge petitions are relatively rare, given that…