Almost 55,000 illegal aliens were granted de facto amnesty under the Temporary Protected Status classification by President Trump’s Department of Homeland Security in the first three months of 2017.

In total, 54,944 illegal aliens either had their Temporary Protected Status (TPS) renewed by the administration or are new recipients of the classification, which has been derided by immigration hawks for being an indirect amnesty program.

Under Temporary Protected Status, hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens are allowed to remain in the U.S. for up to 18 months, as Breitbart Texas reported. After their protected status has expired, they can re-apply to have the classification renewed.

Although the number of illegal aliens receiving protected status remains high, the Trump Administration did lower the number, which encompasses January through March 2017, from where the Obama Administration had left it.

In Obama’s last full three months in office, DHS approved close to 84,000 illegal aliens for temporary protected status.

But while Trump’s DHS does not look to be considerably destabilizing the program, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) introduced legislation to halt the Temporary Protected Status system.

“My bill, the TPS Reform Act, would ensure that ‘temporary’ means temporary by establishing clear time limitations and creating statutory tests that must be met to grant the TPS designation,” Brooks said in an interview about the program. “This legislation provides the needed reform for what has become a long-running amnesty program.”

Days ago, Breitbart Texas reported how border crossings along the U.S.-Mexico Border increased by 31 percent in May from the previous month.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.