[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 522 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 522
To designate Haiti under section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality
Act in order to render nationals of Haiti eligible for temporary
protected status under such section.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 17, 2007
Mr. Hastings of Florida (for himself, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen,
Mr. Meek of Florida, Mr. Wexler, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr.
Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Waters, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Jackson-Lee of
Texas, Ms. Lee, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Rush, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Crowley, Ms.
Schakowsky, and Mr. Gonzalez) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To designate Haiti under section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality
Act in order to render nationals of Haiti eligible for temporary
protected status under such section.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Haitian Protection Act of 2007''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Haiti remains severely devastated by the combined
effects of ongoing political turmoil and the aftermath of the
natural disasters of 2004, such as Tropical Storm Jeanne and
Hurricane Ivan.
(2) In Haiti, more than 2,500 people died as a result of
Tropical Storm Jeanne in 2004.
(3) The civil protection agency of Haiti stated that
250,000 people were homeless across the country and at least
4,000 homes were destroyed, with thousands more damaged, as a
result of the storm.
(4) When Tropical Storm Jeanne hit, Haiti was already
struggling to deal with political instability and the aftermath
of serious floods from a heavy rain on May 26, 2004, which
killed over 3,000 people.
(5) Despite President Preval's popular internal and
international support, his nascent democratic government still
faces immense political and institutional challenges, including
a sharp increase in common crime, especially kidnappings which
continue to plague the capital and other cities and regions,
and the rebuilding of Haiti's police and judicial institutions
to achieve the fair and prompt tackling of this ongoing
political and criminal violence.
(6) On Thursday, December 21, 2006, UNICEF issued a
statement condemning the increased kidnappings of children in
Haiti.
(7) As of January 2007, the Department of State maintains a
travel warning to United States citizens warning them of the
absence of an effective police force in much of Haiti; the
potential for looting; the presence of intermittent roadblocks
set by armed gangs or by the police; and the possibility of
random violent crime, including carjacking and assault. The
warning states that kidnapping for ransom remains a serious
threat, with more than 50 American citizens, including
children, kidnapped over the past year.
(8) As of January 2007, the Department of State's Consular
Information Sheet states that ``United States Embassy personnel
are under an embassy-imposed curfew and must remain in their
homes or in United States government facilities during the
curfew. The embassy has limited travel by its staff outside of
Port-au-Prince and therefore its ability to provide emergency
services to United States citizens outside of Port-au-Prince is
constrained''.
(9) While United States policy advises Americans that
current conditions make it unsafe to travel to Haiti, the same
conditions make it dangerous and inappropriate to forcibly
repatriate Haitians at this time.
(10) Recent devastating environmental disasters from which
Haiti has not recovered, continuing violence, and unstable
political conditions pose a serious threat at this time to the
personal safety of anyone forcibly repatriated to Haiti.
(11) The Haitian government's ability to provide basic
governmental services--clean water, education, passable road
and basic healthcare--has been severely compromised by the
natural disasters and disrupted by the violent overthrow of the
constitutional government in 2004. Repatriating Haitians
exposes them to these dangerous conditions, while imposing an
additional burden on government resources that are already
stretched too thin.
(12) Haiti's recent political, civil, and governmental
crises; and the extraordinary and temporary conditions caused
by nature, including floods, epidemics, homelessness, death and
the burying of Haiti's fourth largest city, Gonaives, easily
make Haitian nationals currently in the United States eligible
for temporary protected status under subparagraphs (B) and (C)
of sections 244(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(``TPS'') .
(13) Moreover, there is a well-documented history of
discrimination against Haitian nationals in the United States
immigration process.
(14) Temporary protected status grants temporary protection
from deportation to nationals of a country in which
environmental or political events have occurred which make it
temporarily unsafe to deport them. TPS has been granted to
nationals of many countries including those of Nicaragua and
Honduras in 1999 following Hurricane Mitch, and of El Salvador
in 2001 following severe earthquakes.
(15) TPS would help protect United States borders by
preserving remittances sent by potential deportees. Haitian
immigrants in the United States remit about $1 billion annually
to Haiti. These remittances vastly outweigh, in dollar value,
United States foreign aid to Haiti, and are crucial to Haiti's
recovery from the separate and combined effects of years of
severe environmental disasters, paralyzing political turmoil,
violence, and institutional failure
(16) Granting Haitians TPS would also directly assist
Haiti's nascent democracy in its efforts to recover from these
conditions, stabilize the country's economy, rebuild its
political and economic institutions, and provide a future of
hope for Haiti's people.
SEC. 3. DESIGNATION FOR PURPOSES OF GRANTING TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS
TO HAITIANS.
(a) Designation.--
(1) In general.--For purposes of section 244 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a), Haiti shall
be treated as if such country had been designated under
subsection (b) of that section, subject to the provisions of
this section.
(2) Period of designation.--The initial period of such
designation shall begin on the date of enactment of this Act
and shall remain in effect for 18 months.
(b) Aliens Eligible.--In applying section 244 of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a) pursuant to the designation made
under this section, and subject to subsection (c)(3) of such section,
an alien who is a national of Haiti is deemed to meet the requirements
of subsection (c)(1) of such section only if the alien--
(1) is admissible as an immigrant, except as otherwise
provided under subsection (c)(2)(A) of such section, and is not
ineligible for temporary protected status under subsection
(c)(2)(B) of such section; and
(2) registers for temporary protected status in a manner
that the Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish.
(c) Consent to Travel Abroad.--The Secretary of Homeland Security
shall give the prior consent to travel abroad described in section
244(f)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(f)(3))
to an alien who is granted temporary protected status pursuant to the
designation made under this section, if the alien establishes to the
satisfaction of the Secretary of Homeland Security that emergency and
extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the alien require the
alien to depart for a brief, temporary trip abroad. An alien returning
to the United States in accordance with such an authorization shall be
treated the same as any other returning alien provided temporary
protected status under section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a).
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