U.S. Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked an attempt by Democrats to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians, rejecting a bill that would have allowed hundreds of thousands of Haitian nationals to remain in the United States without fear of deportation at least until the next U.S. presidential election, the Miami Herald reported.

In April, House Democrats, with the support of a few Republicans, had passed legislation extending the temporary protections granted to Haitian immigrants for three years. The bill had been introduced by Democratic Representatives Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Laura Gillen of New York. It was brought to a vote after its supporters successfully used a bipartisan procedure known as a “discharge petition” to remove it from the congressional committee where it had been stalled, the Miami Herald article recalled.