Congress opens green card pathway for TPS immigrants, shields applications from deportation

What it does

This bill creates a new pathway for certain foreign nationals to become lawful permanent residents (green card holders). It targets people from countries that have received Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations, who have lived continuously in the U.S. for at least 3 years, and who pass criminal and national security background checks. Eligible applicants can apply from within or outside the U.S., and their spouses and children can also adjust status. The bill also protects applicant information from immigration enforcement use and requires detailed reporting when TPS designations end.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core function is to create a new legal mechanism for permanent resident status adjustment for a specific immigrant population (TPS-eligible nationals with 3+ years U.S. presence). It is not a broad amnesty, nor is it a restriction—it is a targeted eligibility expansion with procedural safeguards.

What the text implies

• Confidentiality provisions (§3) prevent DHS from using application data for immigration enforcement, creating a firewall between the adjustment process and deportation machinery—applicants gain de facto protection from enforcement action during pendency.
• Stay of removal (§2(c)) applies to aliens with pending applications OR those prima facie eligible who merely indicate intent to apply, potentially halting removal proceedings for large cohorts before formal adjudication.
• Waiver authority (§2(b)(3)) allows Attorney General or DHS Secretary to override the 3-year continuous presence requirement on 'extreme hardship' grounds, introducing discretionary flexibility that could expand eligibility beyond statutory text.
• Spouses and domestic partners of adjusted aliens gain derivative status (§2(e)), potentially creating chain migration effects for family members not originally TPS-eligible.
• Reporting requirement (§4) on TPS terminations imposes new administrative burden on DHS and creates congressional oversight mechanism, but does not restrict termination authority itself.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill expands legal pathways for immigrants already embedded in U.S. communities (3+ years continuous presence), reducing deportation risk and enabling workforce participation. Confidentiality protections prevent chilling effects on applications. However, the benefit is narrowly targeted to TPS-eligible nationals and their families, not a universal immigration reform.

Named in the bill

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Secretary of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Attorney General, Secretary of State, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, House Committee on the Judiciary, Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)

Where it stands

35 cosponsors: 34 Democrats, 1 Independents.

• Jun 18, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Jun 18, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $270,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 8 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Chris Van Hollen, the sponsor, reported $81,250 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• International Union of Painters and Allied Trades — $270,000 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.