ICYMI: Liccardo Moves to Force Vote on Protections for Afghan Refugees

SAN JOSÉ, CA— Today, The Mercury News reported on Congressman Sam Liccardo’s plans to bypass Republican House leadership and force a vote on his bipartisan Afghanistan TPS Act. The legislation would restore Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 8,000 Afghans at risk of deportation after the Trump administration ended their protections last year. Liccardo plans to file the discharge petition when Congress returns on November 9.

Read the full story below:

The Mercury News: Rep. Sam Liccardo’s bill to reinstate protections for Afghan refugees has stalled. Now, he’s turning to an obscure procedural rule to force a vote
By Grace Hase Published October 19, 2026
Silicon Valley Rep. Sam Liccardo’s bill to make Afghan immigrants once again eligible for temporary protected status has gone nowhere since it was introduced this summer, leaving more than 8,000 refugees nationally at risk for deportation. Now, the first-term congressmember plans to leverage an obscure procedural rule to advance the legislation.
Liccardo, who co-authored the “Afghanistan TPS Act of 2026” with Reps. Jason Crow, D-Colo., Don Bacon, R-Neb., and Maria Salazar, R-Fla., told the Bay Area News Group that he plans to file a discharge petition when Congress returns from recess on Nov. 9. The bill would offer Afghan refugees a shield from deportation as their immigration cases move forward, a status they held previously until the Trump administration ended the protection in 2025.
The legislative mechanism is a way for congressmembers to buck House leadership, which controls what bills proceed out of committee. If a discharge petition receives at least 218 signatures, it will force a vote on the bill.
Long considered a seldom-used tool with very little success, discharge petitions are finding new utility in the Trump era as House Speaker Mike Johnson holds a razor-thin majority that’s at risk in the upcoming midterm election.
Donna Crane, a lecturer in San Jose State University’s Department of Political Science, said that Republicans, who are facing dire reelection prospects, have used discharge petitions this year as a way to distance themselves from President Donald Trump. But for the minority party, she said, it’s also been an incredibly powerful instrument.
“This can be pretty much the only way of getting any control over the House floor schedule because the majority controls the entire schedule,” she said. “If you can hold your own group together and pick a few members off from the other side, then your bill is going to go to the floor.”
Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Santa Clara, and Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, famously used a discharge petition last year to bypass House leadership in their quest to pry loose investigative records related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The discharge petition could mark a critical step in Liccardo’s efforts to reinstate TPS for Afghan nationals. The Trump administration has halted protections for immigrants from 13 countries as it looks to dismantle the program, which guards from deportation individuals who can’t safely return to their homes due to ongoing conflict or other disasters.
The Biden administration granted TPS to eligible Afghans in 2022 after the United States ended its military presence in the country the year prior.
“Regardless of political differences, we ought to be able to agree on the critical importance of keeping our promises as a country,” Liccardo said about his bill. “America promised thousands of Afghans who risked their lives as interpreters, as informants, as other support roles to our military; they risked their lives with the expectation that we would not betray them and put them in harm’s way for doing so.”
Joseph Azam, a Berkeley resident and the board chair of the Afghan-American Foundation, said that the end of TPS for Afghan nationals has “shaken people’s belief that protecting this population is a bipartisan priority.”
The decision, along with other moves by the Trump administration to ban Afghans from entering the U.S., has sent shockwaves throughout the Bay Area — especially in Fremont, which is home to one of the largest concentrations of Afghan immigrants in the country .
Azam said that it’s been “frustrating” to see Liccardo’s bill stall and applauded his plans to file a discharge petition.
“I think people who care about this population and care about the integrity of America’s word should use every tool in their toolbox,” he said. “Once it’s opened, I think that’s when the real pressure can start. Members of Congress need to step up and be counted on this issue, and they’ve gotten a pass for a while now, particularly under this new administration. I’m looking forward to people being held accountable and having to be on the record on where they stand.”
Whether Liccardo and his co-sponsors have enough signatures remains to be seen; however, the congressman said that having “five Republican co-sponsors is certainly a very strong indication.” There are 214 Democrats serving in the House of Representatives.
The success of a discharge petition filed earlier this year to force a vote on a bill that would extend TPS for Haitian immigrants could also be another positive indicator for Liccardo’s bill — four Republican congressmembers signed the discharge petition alongside Democrats, to reach the 218 threshold.
A spokesperson for Johnson did not respond to a request to comment about the discharge petition, but told reporters last year that “I am not a fan of discharge petitions. It is typically used as a tool against the majority.”
Regardless of who wins control of the House on Nov. 3, Liccardo said that Republicans up for reelection might be more emboldened to sign on.
“After Election Day,” he said, “I’d like to believe we’re going to have a lot more interest from a lot of those Republicans, particularly a lot of the veterans who served in Afghanistan, who understand what a betrayal this has been to essentially abandon our promise to protect Afghans who risked their lives alongside U.S. troops.”