- Senator Jim Banks proposes shifting TPS authority from the executive branch to Congress to limit program extensions.
- The package would impose a twelve-month limit on humanitarian protections, requiring congressional approval for any further extension.
- Proposed legislation seeks to slash humanitarian parole to just one thousand cases annually while restricting commercial driver’s licenses.
Sen. Jim Banks is seeking to move control of Temporary Protected Status from the executive branch to Congress through a package that would limit TPS extensions, redesignations, and terminations. The Indiana Republican argues presidents have used the humanitarian program too broadly. He says lawmakers must set permanent statutory limits.
The Banks Package would change more than one country’s designation. It would determine who makes the final decision when a designation continues, changes, or ends. The proposal would also shift immigration parole decisions into a congressional framework.
Banks says the objective extends beyond President Trump’s current administration. He made that case on August 22, 2026.
“If we legislate it and give Congress power to determine when TPS is appropriate when it's not, then we'll be able to address these issues long after President Trump leaves the White House,”
The plan would narrow the discretion now held by the Secretary of Homeland Security. A future administration could face limits on unilateral TPS action, including extensions and redesignations.
The proposal would make Congress decide whether TPS survives its first year
The central measure, the End Unaccountable Amnesty Act, would impose a 12-month maximum on every TPS designation. Any extension beyond that initial period would require an Act of Congress.
The current framework comes from the Immigration Act of 1990. It allows designations lasting 6–18 months and permits the Homeland Security secretary to extend them. TPS designations cover countries facing ongoing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or extraordinary temporary conditions.
The proposed process would give lawmakers a direct role after the first year. A designation could end if Congress failed to approve an extension, with inaction by either chamber effectively stopping its continuation.
Sponsors also point to long-running designations as evidence that temporary protection can become de facto permanent status. They cite nationals from El Salvador who have held the status for over 20 years.
Sponsors pair the TPS change with a sharp reduction in parole
The TPS measure sits inside a wider August 2026 group of seven immigration bills. The package also addresses parole, commercial driver’s licenses, H-1B visas, birthright citizenship, family-sponsored immigration, employment verification, and detention.
The parole provision would create a hard annual limit of 1,000 cases. That would sharply reduce admissions compared with the hundreds of thousands granted through the CHNV programs for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela under the Biden-Harris administration.
Banks described the broader effort in an official press release dated January 23, 2025:
“The Biden administration exploited current law to grant legal status to millions of non-citizens, overwhelming communities in Indiana and across the country. This bill will end mass parole, eliminate incentives for illegal immigration, and help President Trump restore order after the chaos caused by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”
Rep. Troy E. Nehls (R-TX-22), the House sponsor, issued a similar warning on January 24, 2025:
“I'm proud to introduce legislation alongside Senator Banks to prevent future administrations from abusing TPS designations and parole authority. President Biden and his cronies imported people from all over the world through mass parole programs, flooding our communities with insufficiently vetted individuals.”
The associated Dalilah Law would reach the labor market as well. Its proposed CDL restrictions could remove an estimated 600,000 to 720,000 foreign-born commercial drivers from U.S. roads if licenses were revoked for people without permanent legal status.
The bill is named for Dalilah Coleman, who was injured in a 2024 crash. It would also require English-only testing.
Opponents estimate that 1.3 million people could face status losses
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), author of the counter-bill known as the TPS Relief Act, estimates that 1.3 million TPS holders could lose legal status within months of enactment.
Moulton issued the estimate in a June 29, 2026 statement.
“No administration should have unchecked and unreviewable power to uproot families and undermine our workforce. Congress has a constitutional obligation to act, and I will keep fighting until we do.”
His objection centers on the effect of the proposed limits on families and workers. Banks’s argument centers on preventing future administrations from expanding humanitarian programs without congressional approval.
Six companion bills would broaden the package beyond humanitarian status
Banks’s finalized August 2026 package contains seven measures, including the TPS and parole bill. The other six would reach several major immigration systems:
| Bill | Proposed change |
|---|---|
The Dalilah Law (S. 3917) | Bans commercial driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants, requires English-only testing, and carries the commercial-driver provision. |
American Tech Workforce Act | Raises the H-1B salary floor from $60,000 to $150,000 and ends the OPT program. |
Citizenship Act of 2026 | Seeks to end birthright citizenship by defining children of undocumented immigrants as “children of invaders.” |
Nuclear Family Priority Act | Cuts family-sponsored visa caps by 65%, from 226,000 to 80,000, and ends chain migration for non-nuclear relatives. |
Mandatory E-Verify Act | Requires nationwide use of E-Verify. Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) leads the measure. |
Detention Authority Clarification Act | Mandates detention of illegal aliens without bond. Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) leads the measure. |
Together, the bills would codify what sponsors call an “America First” immigration agenda. Their stated purpose is to replace administrative discretion with rules set in federal law and subject to congressional votes.
Immigration attorney Dallen Lykins said the Citizenship Act of 2026 attempts to bypass recent Supreme Court rulings on birthright citizenship through its use of the “invader” legal label. The provision is separate from the TPS mechanism but forms part of the same legislative campaign.
Sponsors describe that campaign as a response to what they call “executive abuse.” They argue that placing humanitarian designations in statute would prevent future presidents from using executive orders to “open the borders” and would make voters’ representatives responsible for the policy.
Banks is using the August midterm timetable to press for passage
From August 21-23, 2026, Banks campaigned on what he called a “midterm clock” race. He urged Congress to enact the measures before a possible shift in congressional control.
The administration has already taken actions aligned with the package’s stated goals. As of late 2025/early 2026, Secretary Kristi Noem had begun terminating TPS for several countries, including Afghanistan, Burma, and Haiti.
USCIS issued 196,600 Notices to Appear by December 2025. Banks is pressing lawmakers to turn his approach into statute before the political window he identifies closes.
