[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3510 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3510

     To designate Angola under section 244 of the Immigration and 
   Nationality Act in order to make nationals of Angola eligible for 
             temporary protected status under such section.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 18, 2003

  Mr. Lynch introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To designate Angola under section 244 of the Immigration and 
   Nationality Act in order to make nationals of Angola 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 ``Angolan Temporary Protected Status 
Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Angola has just recently emerged from 41 years of 
        conflict, including a 14-year struggle for independence 
        followed by 27 years of civil war.
            (2) As much as \1/3\ of the population of Angola was 
        displaced by warfare and now needs to be resettled, amounting 
        to some 4,000,000 internal and external refugees.
            (3) The government established by the Lukasa Protocol is 
        currently struggling to meet the needs of its people in the 
        face of continued unrest and food shortages.
            (4) National elections to create a freely elected 
        government may still be several years away.
            (5) An insurgency group, the Front for the Liberation of 
        the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC), remains active in Cabinda 
        province, where Amnesty International has reported instances of 
        human rights abuses such as indiscriminate killings, setting 
        fire to villages, and rape.
            (6) The Department of State has identified Angola as a 
        place of ``considerable risk'' for travel, due to banditry, 
        extensive use of land mines during the war, and poor government 
        infrastructure and security capabilities.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of the Congress that, in view of the difficulties 
facing the Angolan people in the aftermath of their civil war, Angola 
qualifies for designation under section 244(b)(1)(A) of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(b)(1)(A)), pursuant to which 
Angolan nationals would be eligible for temporary protected status in 
the United States.

SEC. 4. DESIGNATION FOR PURPOSES OF GRANTING TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS 
              TO ANGOLANS.

    (a) Designation.--
            (1) In general.--For purposes of section 244 of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a), Angola shall 
        be treated as if it 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 1 year.
    (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, subject to section 244(c)(3) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)(3)), an alien who is a national of 
Angola meets the requirements of section 244(c)(1) of that Act (8 
U.S.C. 1254a(c)(1)) only if--
            (1) the alien has been continuously physically present in 
        the United States since the date of enactment of this Act;
            (2) the alien is admissible as an immigrant, except as 
        otherwise provided under section 244(c)(2)(A) of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)(2)(A)), and 
        is not ineligible for temporary protected status under section 
        244(c)(2)(B) of that Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)(2)(B)); and
            (3) the alien 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).
                                 <all>