In an exclusive interview with Caribbean Television Network, Congressman Seth Moulton of Massachusetts announced the introduction of the TPS Relief Act, legislation that would give federal courts the authority to review the Trump administration’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitian and other immigrants — authority the Supreme Court ruled last week the courts do not currently possess.
The interview covered Moulton’s personal experience in Haiti, the mechanics and prospects of his bill, the role of House Speaker Mike Johnson as the critical obstacle, the economic stakes for Massachusetts and the nation, and his campaign for the U.S. Senate. Throughout, Moulton was candid about the difficulty ahead while committing to the fight — and he was explicit that he would not offer Haitian families false hope. Before Moulton discussed legislation, he spoke about where his commitment to the Haitian community comes from — and it is personal.
A Marine Corps veteran who served four combat tours in Iraq as an infantry officer, Moulton went to Haiti after leaving military service as a civilian volunteer.
“I actually went to Haiti just after my military service as a civilian volunteer, as someone who wanted to help, who understands the deep relationship that Haiti has always had with the United States, and witnessed the devastation of this absolutely horrific earthquake,” he said. “I went down with a group of doctors, mostly orthopedic surgeons from Boston, to try to help and to save lives.”
That experience is the lens through which he views the current crisis. “Our own State Department in the United States has said that it’s not safe for Americans to travel to Haiti,” he said. “And so we have this wonderful provision in the law called temporary protected status that exists exactly for nations like Haiti, where people need a safe refuge. And America has a long history, written on the base of the Statue of Liberty, of being a destination for immigrants and a safe haven for people all across the world.”
The TPS Relief Act: Giving Courts a Role They Currently Lack
The centerpiece of the interview was Moulton’s introduction of the TPS Relief Act, filed on June 29, 2026, as H.R. 9523, just days after the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling in Mullin v. Doe stripped federal courts of the authority to review executive branch TPS termination decisions. The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
The Supreme Court’s ruling did not merely limit what courts could do — it held that under current law, courts lack the power to review TPS termination decisions at all. Moulton’s bill would change the law to explicitly grant courts that power and require them to exercise it.
“Unfortunately, the Supreme Court just said that the administration can get away with this cruelty because it’s not required for the court to review this decision,” Moulton said. “The Supreme Court said it’s just beyond our power. So this piece of legislation — the TPS Relief Act — will restore that power and will tell the court very explicitly that you must review these decisions.”
He described the bill’s design as deliberately simple and procedurally narrow.
“What’s beautiful about the TPS Relief Act is it’s very simple. It just says the court should review this decision. The current law, at least as interpreted by the Supreme Court, is that they can’t review the decision. Our law just changes that and says: not only can you, but you should.”
He was careful to frame the bill not as a guaranteed win for TPS holders but as a restoration of the process. “We think this should be acceptable because it’s not predetermining what the result is. It’s just saying you should have a review. The administration should not be able to make this decision on its own. That’s a very reasonable thing to do.”
In other words, the bill does not order courts to reinstate TPS — it gives them the legal authority to review the decision and decide for themselves whether the administration acted lawfully. That is the distinction Moulton emphasized repeatedly.
According to his official press release, the ruling directly threatens approximately 330,000 Haitian nationals and 3,800 Syrian nationals, and effectively forecloses future legal recourse for TPS holders from Lebanon, El Salvador, Sudan, Ukraine, and other countries the Trump administration has targeted.
He also emphasized the bill’s reach beyond Haiti. “It applies not just to the situation in Haiti but to every place where the administration may consider taking back or rescinding TPS. It will force a review where we can have an honest second opinion from the judiciary about whether their decisions are right.”
Republicans Are on Board. The Speaker Is the Problem
CTN asked directly whether there was a realistic path to a floor vote. Moulton’s answer was the most politically significant part of the interview.
“Yes, I do,” he said of Republican support, “because Republicans see the horrors of this decision by the Trump administration as well.” His argument was grounded not only in human rights but in economic reality. “So many of us have older relatives, perhaps parents who are 80 years old or something and going into nursing homes, and they rely every single day on the amazing care of Haitian-Americans.”
His own press release put numbers to that argument: Haitian immigrants constitute 32-40% of workers in home care settings nationwide. Their sudden removal would devastate nursing homes, hospitals, and care facilities across the country.
But one man controls whether any of this comes to a vote. “Speaker Johnson is often the obstacle because he has the power to determine whether bills even come up for a vote in the United States Congress,” Moulton said. “He may just prevent it from coming to a vote because Speaker Johnson pretty much does whatever Trump asks him to do. That’s not the way it’s supposed to work.”
He connected this obstruction to a constitutional principle. “The Congress is supposed to be an independent branch of government from the executive. In fact, it’s supposed to put a check on the executive. My bill exemplifies how Congress should work for the American people. But Speaker Johnson is not making Congress work that way. He’s making it work just for the Trump administration.”
This dynamic is not new. Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s H.R. 1689 — which would have extended Haitian TPS through April 2029 — passed the full House on April 16, 2026, by a 224-204 vote with 10 Republicans crossing the aisle, only to stall in the Senate with no vote scheduled. (NPR) Moulton voted for that bill and had signed the discharge petition that forced it to the floor.
On Reaching the Administration
CTN pressed Moulton on whether quiet diplomacy was being pursued with the Trump administration to secure even a short extension of TPS. His answer was unsparing.
“Yes, I will try,” he said. “But I also want to be honest about the expectations because I think too often people in Washington tell you what you want to hear instead of the truth. And I want to be honest about the stakes here, but also about the reality. And the reality is that while we will try that approach, I’m not optimistic about the result.”
He drew a comparison from his work as a veteran representing Afghan and Iraqi military allies. Despite years of bipartisan effort, he said, “they’ve refused.” He was not willing to offer hollow encouragement in Haiti.
Moulton directly engaged the Republican argument that after 16 years, TPS for Haiti has ceased to be “temporary.” His response was both substantive and pointed.
“This is very simple,” he said. “The situation in Haiti is still terrible. If the State Department is telling Americans it’s not safe to travel to Haiti, then by definition, by their own assessment, by their own judgment, we should not be ending temporary protected status.”
He cited the history of TPS to show that the program does have a genuine off-ramp — but not the one Trump is using. “If you look at the history of temporary protected status, there are other places around the globe where we have offered TPS and then withdrawn the designation. For example, in Kosovo, when the fighting ended and the region became peaceful again, we ended TPS. In Kuwait, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. We provided TPS for Kuwaitis, and when America restored peace, that program was ended. In every case in the past, it’s been because the conditions actually improved and it was safe to go home.”
Then the verdict: “Trump is not following that law today. He is making an assessment that’s patently untrue, and that puts countless families at grave risk.”
On the Democratic record, he was equally candid. “It’s always been Republicans right from the top — from Donald Trump — who have politicized immigration. Most recently, during the 2024 campaign, Republicans in the Senate led discussions with Democrats for a compromise on immigration that would not have solved everything but would have brought some important reforms. And then Donald Trump himself came in before he was elected president again and said, ‘Don’t do this because I want to make it a campaign issue.'”
A Direct Message to Haitian Families
The most striking passage of the interview came when CTN asked what Moulton would say to a TPS holder watching the July 10 deadline approach in fear.
“First of all, I would start by just saying: I see your pain. I feel it. I cannot imagine being in your shoes, and I’m here to help. I want to help. That’s the first thing,” he said.
“The second thing is that I know you would love nothing more than for me to give you good news, but I do not want to give you false hope. That’s dishonest. So I want to be realistic about the situation and the challenge that this administration has put before us. It’s a hateful policy from this administration, but it is what they’re trying to do.”
He then pointed to concrete action. “I’m going to keep fighting in Washington for the TPS Relief Act because I believe it would solve this problem. But in the meantime, I would encourage you to reach out to immigration attorneys and to your congressional office. If you’re in my district on the North Shore in the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts, please come to our office in Salem, and we’ll do whatever we can to help.”
He illustrated the human cost in terms that are meant to be felt, not just understood. “Imagine a 14-year-old kid playing on a high school basketball team here in the United States, being told your parents are taking you to a country you’ve never even known, just because of this administration’s decision. This is just devastating for hundreds of thousands of Haitian-Americans.”
The Senate Race and a Closing
Moulton described himself first as “a dad — a father of two amazing little girls who are five and seven years old.” He connected his Marine service to his commitment to immigrant communities and spoke about his Senate campaign against Senator Ed Markey.
“Senator Markey is a good man, but he’s been in the political establishment in Washington for 50 years, for a very long time,” Moulton said. “I just think it’s time for a new generation of leadership, with new ideas, new plans, a new vision for the future of our country, and new ways to fight Trump and the MAGA Republicans because the old playbook just is not working anymore.”
He ended with a direct address to the Haitian and broader Caribbean community. “You’re such an important part of the fabric of the United States of America. You have always been an important part, and that doesn’t change despite what’s coming from the Trump administration. What Donald Trump is doing is hateful, and it’s un-American, and we need to fight together to end this hate. I will always be with you. I will always have your back.”
The TPS Relief Act (H.R. 9523) was introduced on June 29, 2026, and referred to the House Judiciary Committee. It has no Republican co-sponsors as of this writing. DHS has set July 10, 2026, as the placeholder E-Verify expiration date for Haitian TPS employment authorization documents. Rep. Pressley’s H.R. 1689 passed the House in April but awaits Senate action. Senators Markey and Lisa Blunt Rochester are leading a Senate companion effort. Rep. Frederica Wilson has introduced the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act. No action from the Trump administration on extending or restoring TPS is anticipated.
Sources: Exclusive CTN interview with Rep. Seth Moulton (MA-06); Moulton’s official press release on the TPS Relief Act, moulton.house.gov, June 29, 2026: https://moulton.house.gov/news/press-releases/moulton-introduces-tps-relief-act-restore-judicial-review-and-protect-13; H.R. 9523 on Congress.gov: https://www.congress.gov/member/seth-moulton/M001196; NPR reporting on House passage of H.R. 1689, April 16, 2026: https://www.npr.org/2026/04/16/g-s1-117718/house-passes-bill-extending-protections-for-haitian-migrants-in-the-u-s; the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Mullin v. Doe, 609 U.S. ___ (2026), decided June 25, 2026; and USCIS/E-Verify guidance setting July 10, 2026 as the Haitian TPS work-permit expiration date.
https://ctninfo.com/massachusetts-co…-end-haitian-tps/
Editorial Disclaimer:
This article was originally written in English. The French and Haitian Creole versions are produced using AI translation, and errors are possible — the English version is authoritative. CTN also uses AI to convert text into audio. Readers and listeners should rely on the English text where any discrepancy arises.
