[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).
                                 <all>