I have to admit, I got caught in the framing trap right off the bat.
Had a bad case of WHUT...SNARL immediately, as had been intended. It hadn't been community-noted yet.
JUST IN: Haitians who have been in the U.S. for years under Temporary Protected Status can apply for permanent residence or for a temporary visa, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Sunday. https://t.co/N9Du8fxThk
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) June 28, 2026
I mean, the phrasing is truthful - he DID say that.
But leaving out the why Director of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said that got exactly the screeching at the administration from the base that I guess everyone in media wanted.
No!! We do NOT want more temporary visas! You were elected to deport people who have been here for 15 years on “temporary” visas!!
— Megan Basham (@megbasham) June 28, 2026
YOU SAID YOU'D MAKE THEM ALL LEAVE AND WE KNEW MULLIN WAS A MISTAKE!!!
It didn't take two minutes for a tempest to blow up, full of recriminations and 'I told you so's.'
But I read the recommended community notes and went, 'Ah.'
WE'VE BEEN PLAYED YET AGAIN
And so we had, and pretty effectively, judging by the vitriol already swirling like a vortex.
This is part of the actual NewsMax interview with Mullin.
..."Temporary Protected Status was never intended to be permanent," Mullin said, noting that many recipients have lived in the United States for 15, 20, or even 30 years and have had opportunities to pursue other legal immigration pathways.
Mullin said TPS recipients can still apply for lawful permanent residence or temporary visas if they qualify.
"These individuals have a couple of choices," he told host Jake Tapper.
"They can try to apply for a permanent residence here, they can apply for a temporary visa if they choose to, or they can choose to go back," Mullin said.
He added that the administration would assist those who voluntarily return to their home countries by providing airfare and roughly $2,100 to help them reestablish themselves.
However, Mullin stressed that approval for permanent status is not automatic.
Applicants with felony convictions, pending criminal charges, or those who have become dependent on taxpayer-funded social programs may not qualify, he said.
He wasn't going soft. What came out of his mouth is precisely how the immigration law pertaining to Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is written.
ZOMG
And what's really interesting is that the way the law is written - and has already been adjudicated through a number of earlier court cases - is that while TPS beneficiaries may file for 'status adjustment,' is they came here 'without inspection' - in other words, flown or bused in willynilly by the plane load or boat load - they may NOT do so from WITHIN THE UNITED STATES.
Guess what that means? They must leave the country to try to change their status, and it could be a ten-year wait at that.
Oh, hello.
...TPS does not provide beneficiaries with a separate path to lawful permanent residence (a green card) or citizenship.59 However, a TPS recipient who otherwise is eligible for permanent residence may apply for that status.60
Generally, a person who entered the United States without inspection is not eligible to apply for permanent residence. Six federal appellate circuits previously ruled on this issue.61 Three federal appellate circuits (the Sixth, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits) ruled that a person with valid TPS status could adjust status to lawful permanent residence if otherwise eligible through a family-based or employment-based petition, even if he or she entered the United States without inspection. Three other federal appellate courts (the Third, Fifth, and Eleventh Circuits) ruled that a TPS recipient who entered without inspection is not eligible to adjust to permanent residence.
In June 2021, the Supreme Court subsequently ruled that a TPS recipient who entered the United States without inspection is not eligible to adjust to permanent residence from within the United States, overturning the prior decisions by the Sixth, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits.62 In order to gain permanent resident status, a TPS recipient who initially entered the United States without inspection must depart the country to have a visa processed at a consular post. For many TPS holders, a departure to have a visa interview would trigger bars to re-entry for up to 10 years.
So, in effect, what Mullin was saying was 'go ahead and good luck' because they're leaving in any event.
Finish the rest of what @SecMullinDHS said. He said they can apply but most won't get approved .
— Viral News NYC (@ViralNewsNYC) June 28, 2026
The administration is 'just following' immigration law and making sure that TPS beneficiaries know what that is as well. It always helps when the court cases for cruel and unusual punishment of foreigners residing in our country hit the dockets as they inevitably do.
Everyone can apply.
It's getting the approval that's an absolute bitch.
Exactly. It’s just a little soft messaging for normies which I don’t care about as long as visa approval rates keep dropping like they have been out of the spotlight. pic.twitter.com/lS8JOJmoSM
— 𝔻𝕠𝕔𝕥𝕠𝕣 𝔽𝕒𝕥𝕖 (@georg3) June 28, 2026
There's also been some additional tweaking of the system to tighten it up even further. The loopholes have turned into snares.
Not just that but this actually shows the effects of all the little things Trump has done, particularly point 2.
— America First Insight (@AF_Insight) June 28, 2026
First, Trump ended their TPS, that revokes their work authorization, which puts them on a timer (how much money they have) as if they worked, then guess what they are…
... as if they worked, then guess what they are in violation of immigration law, and are deported.
Second, the Trump administration has made visa processing significantly more difficult. Someone whose TPS has expired generally cannot simply apply for a new U.S. visa while remaining in the United States, they usually must leave the country and apply at a U.S. consulate. As you can only apply for a change of status if you are here "legally" they no longer are, and must start the process from step 1.
Third, they expanded the number of required in-person visa interviews, and expanded all their vetting, which also significantly delays a final approval or denial (90% chance of a denial, as per our immigration court's right now)
And it's also a proven fact that many of these TPS asylum seekers spent years in other countries before migrating up to the United States for economic purposes, not because they needed asylum from conditions in Haiti they'd been well clear of.
Their 'asylum claims' were a fraudulent means to an entry into the land of milk and honey.
100% correct. When I was at the Del Rio, TX Haitian bridge camp in 2021, many of the Haitians told me they had been living in Chile & Brazil for years before coming to the US illegally for economic (not safety) reasons. The Haitians were dumping & tearing up their Chilean… https://t.co/KbbX55bKda pic.twitter.com/okEZkjRoqI
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) June 26, 2026
...The Haitians were dumping & tearing up their Chilean documents at the river’s edge hide this fact from the US so it wouldn’t hurt their fraudulent asylum claims.
The idea that all these Haitians came directly from Haiti after an earthquake or assassination is false. Many of them were living happily and safely for years in South America until Biden’s open border policies became too attractive to pass up. Others also flew into the US via Biden’s CHNV mass parole program which was supposed to be for only 2 year humanitarian parole grants. Of course, most never left.
The party's over, and it's time to go home.
“The T in TPS stands for temporary…It is closing time. You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here. The good news is it’s not too late to get a $2,600 check and a free flight home.” @DHSGenCounselhttps://t.co/YGo3uuNvrE pic.twitter.com/JDClLseFgA
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) June 26, 2026
As someone in the comments on one of the chill-out Xweets said, Mullins' comments were like saying someone had been told they could apply to be the head coach of the Nets.
Technically, that's true and an honest statement.
And good luck to them.
Editor’s Note: We voted for mass deportations, not mass amnesty. Help us continue to fight back against those trying to go against the will of the American people.
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