Republicans Will Do Anything To Illegals Except Deport Them

President Donald Trump galvanized Americans in 2024 in part by promising “mass deportations.” It was a message that resonated with millions of Americans who were frustrated that the country had been overrun by tens of millions of illegal aliens thanks to then-President Joe Biden and the Democrats.

In order to get the job done, voters also elected a Republican Congress and Senate. Yet, while the president has had to fight Democrats, activist judges, and violent agitators, members of his own party continue to work to undermine his efforts.

Republicans will seemingly do anything for illegal aliens except deport them. They’ll vote to grant them work authorization, protect them from deportations, waive the consequences of breaking the law, and even create new statuses just so that illegals can find a reason to stay. They’ll go so far as to insist none of this is amnesty since they’ve avoided explicitly using that word.

The latest example comes from 47 House Republicans supporting legislation that would allow some illegal aliens working in agriculture to obtain legal status.

H.R. 9535, introduced by Republican Rep. Glenn Thompson, would overhaul the current H-2A temporary agricultural worker program by expanding the time frame so that it permits illegals to stay all year in three-year time increments and “waiv[es] some immigration violations like illegally obtaining an agriculture job,” as The Federalist’s Breccan Thies explained.

But Republicans’ eagerness to protect illegal aliens instead of doing what voters actually asked leaders to do didn’t begin with Thompson’s agricultural bill.

DIGNIDAD Act

Another recent fight over illegal immigration stems from Republicans’ efforts to pass a mass amnesty proposal known as the DIGNIDAD Act (or, if you’re American, the DIGNITY Act). According to a press release from Florida GOP Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar’s office, the legislation “allows certain long-term undocumented immigrants to earn legal status, without amnesty or a path to citizenship” so that illegal aliens who broke the law can have an “opportunity.” The bill would create a “7-year earned legal status program allowing” illegal aliens “to live and work legally, with renewable status based on good conduct and restitution.”

More than a dozen Republicans currently support the DIGNIDAD Act.

American Dream and Promise Act

A Democrat-controlled Congress first passed this legislation in March of 2021 with nine Republicans voting in favor, but it died at the end of that term. Democrat Rep. Sylvia Garcia of Texas reintroduced the legislation in February of 2025, though it has not moved through any processes.

The legislation would provide amnesty for illegal aliens who claim to have been brought to the U.S. as children as well as certain Temporary Protected Status recipients. The legislation would protect these illegals and noncitizens from deportations and create a pathway to citizenship.

DACA

Former President Barack Obama illegally established the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program (despite admitting that he was “not king” and couldn’t “just bypass Congress and change the [immigration] law [himself]”). The program protects illegal aliens brought here as children from deportation. The legislation also gives them work authorization. Approximately 800,000 illegal aliens have benefitted from the legislation. Trump attempted to end it but was partially blocked by the courts.

Over the years, numerous Republicans have signed onto legislation or proposals to protect DACA recipients.

Temporary Protected Status

Trump secured a legal victory in his quest to fulfill his campaign promise of mass deportations after the Supreme Court upheld his efforts to revoke Temporary Protected Status for foreigners in the country. Congress created the TPS designation in 1990 and billed it as short-term humanitarian relief legislation for nationals of foreign countries undergoing crisis. But TPS almost never ends in the short term, and hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals have remained in the country under this status long after the supposed emergencies that sent them here ended. Trump tried to end TPS for roughly 350,000 Haitians living in the country as well as thousands of Venezuelans but was met with Democrat lawfare.

Yet as Trump was fighting to end the temporary program in the courts, six RINOs (Reps. Mike Lawler, Don Bacon, Brian Fitzpatrick, Maria Elvira Salazar, Carlos Gimenez, and Nicole Malliotakis) voted alongside Democrats to advance legislation that would extend TPS for Haitians.

Malliotakis explained her vote by arguing America is merely an economic opportunity zone and that Haitians “are working, paying taxes and contributing to our economy and fulfilling a healthcare need.”

She said stripping them of a temporary status would be “uncompassionate and misguided.”

Tillis Partners With Dems for Amnesty

Sen. Thom Tillis, working alongside Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, introduced an “immigration reform” proposal in 2022 that would provide mass amnesty to millions of illegals. The proposal would have created a “pathway to citizenship” for roughly 2 million illegal aliens who were brought to the United States as minors and are considered “DACA” recipients.

Gang of Eight Bill

In 2013 Democrat Sens. Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin, Bob Menendez, and Michael Bennet joined forces with Republicans John McCain, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, and Jeff Flake to introduce the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. The proposal created a pathway to citizenship for roughly 11 million illegal aliens who had been in the U.S. prior to Dec. 31, 2011. The legislation first provided protection from deportation and granted work authorization so long as the aliens paid a fine and provided proof of work and presence in the country. After 10 years, the bill would have made them eligible to apply for green cards and eventually citizenship. The House did not take the legislation up, so it ultimately failed.

More than a decade later, the Republican Party is still doing the same thing: promising enforcement of the law, trying to provide legal status to illegal aliens, but then assuring Americans that this time will be the last time.

Americans didn’t elect Republicans in 2024 to devise new ways to keep illegal aliens here. They elected Republicans to remove the illegal aliens here. Anything less is mass betrayal of voters and this country.

Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2