Rep. Sam Liccardo plans to file a discharge petition on the Afghanistan TPS Act of 2026 when Congress returns from recess on November 9. The bill would restore Temporary Protected Status for more than 8,000 Afghans whose protections the Trump administration ended in 2025. He has not filed it yet.
The House bill, introduced this summer, has not advanced. Liccardo said the measure would protect Afghans who supported U.S. forces and now face the loss of deportation protections.
“America promised thousands of Afghans who risked their lives as interpreters, as informants, as other support roles to our military.”
The protections began under the Biden administration in 2022, after the United States ended its military presence in Afghanistan the year before. The bill would offer eligible Afghans protection from deportation while their immigration cases proceed.
The measure needs 218 House signatures to reach a vote
A petition with at least 218 signatures can force a House vote, bypassing leadership’s control over which bills leave committee. The threshold is the immediate hurdle. The House has not yet voted on the measure.
Liccardo wrote the bill with Reps. Jason Crow, D-Colo., Don Bacon, R-Neb., and Maria Salazar, R-Fla. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s narrow majority faces the midterm election, as the rarely successful procedure has gained use during the Trump era.
A Senate companion, S. 5308, was introduced August 6, 2026, by Mr. Coons for himself, Ms. Murkowski, Ms. Klobuchar and Mr. Cassidy. It was read twice and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The bill would treat Afghanistan as designated under section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Its initial designation would run from enactment through July 1, 2029. The proposal also directs the Department of Homeland Security to decide TPS and work authorization applications within 90 days of receipt.
DHS could add no more than 150 days for an individual application if the secretary certifies to the House and Senate Judiciary committees that applicant-specific derogatory information makes more time necessary for national security. The bill’s text is available in the Senate companion legislation.
Afghan TPS holders lost protection after the 2025 termination
The legislation responds to the administration’s termination of Afghanistan’s TPS designation. In a case challenging that move, a federal court recorded that about 11,700 Afghan nationals in the United States under TPS received notice on May 13, 2025, that their legal right to remain would end in 60 days. The current bill would cover more than 8,000 people.
Joseph Azam, a Berkeley resident and board chair of the Afghan-American Foundation, said the end of TPS had “shaken people's belief that protecting this population is a bipartisan priority.” He called the bill’s stall frustrating and welcomed the planned filing.
Donna Crane, a lecturer in San Jose State University’s Department of Political Science, described the House procedure as “pretty much the only way of getting any control over the House floor schedule.” She said majority-party members facing difficult reelection prospects have used the tactic this year to distance themselves from President Donald Trump. The minority can also use it as “an incredibly powerful instrument,” she said.
Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Santa Clara, and Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, used the procedure last year to press for investigative records related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Afghan TPS’s termination, alongside other administration moves barring Afghans from entering the United States, has also stirred concern in the Bay Area, including Fremont, home to one of the country’s largest Afghan immigrant communities.
The bill sets screening, travel and fee rules for applicants
The proposed eligibility rules require continuous physical presence in the United States from enactment, admissibility subject to statutory exceptions, registration and background checks. Applicants would provide biometric and biographic data and undergo criminal and national security screening.
The bill would require DHS to consent to brief temporary travel abroad when an applicant establishes emergency and extenuating circumstances beyond that person’s control. It would also require the department to allow fee-waiver applications for people eligible only under the bill.
TPS law says, “There is no judicial review of any determination of the Attorney General with respect to the designation, or termination or extension of a designation, of a foreign state under this subsection.” The Supreme Court’s June 25, 2026, 6-3 ruling in Mullin v. Doe allowed the administration to implement TPS terminations for Haiti and Syria, with other terminations following. The separate case challenging the Afghan termination remains relevant to the debate over the program’s reach.
The filing is scheduled for November 9, when Congress returns. This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific case.
