[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 144 Introduced in House (IH)]







111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 144

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 6, 2009

Mr. Hastings of Florida (for himself, Mr. Meek of Florida, Mr. Wexler, 
 Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Engel, Ms. Schakowsky, 
  Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Ms. Edwards of Maryland, Ms. Norton, Mr. 
   Delahunt, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Honda, and Mr. Hinchey) 
 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 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Haiti remains severely devastated by the combined 
        effects of an ongoing food crisis and the aftermath of the 
        natural disasters of 2008, including Tropical Storms Fay and 
        Hanna, and Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.
            (2) In Haiti, nearly 800 people died as a result of the 
        tropical storms and hurricanes in 2008.
            (3) The United States Agency for International Development 
        estimates that 35,000-40,000 people remain homeless across the 
        country and over 100,000 homes were damaged or destroyed as a 
        result of the storms.
            (4) When the storms hit, Haiti was already struggling to 
        deal with a food crisis that led to deadly riots and the 
        removal of the country's Prime Minister.
            (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) A July 2008 report by the United Nations Mission to 
        Haiti found that Haitian children remain the target of 
        kidnappings, killings, sexual violence, and child trafficking 
        and have been active participants in recent public protests. It 
        also found that children comprise more than one in three 
        kidnapping victims.
            (7) As of April 2008, 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 protestors or by the police; and the increased 
        possibility of random violent crime, including kidnapping, 
        carjacking, home invasion, armed robbery and assault. The 
        warning states that kidnapping remains a serious threat, with 
        more than 14 American citizens kidnapped over the past year in 
        crimes marked by deaths, brutal physical and sexual assault, 
        and shootings.
            (8) As of April 2008, the Department of State's Travel 
        Warning states that ``U.S. Embassy personnel are under an 
        embassy-imposed curfew and must remain in their homes or in 
        U.S. government facilities during the curfew. Some areas are 
        off-limits to embassy staff after dark, including downtown 
        Port-au-Prince. The embassy limits (restricts) travel by its 
        staff to some areas outside of Port-au-Prince due to prevailing 
        road and security conditions. This may constrain our ability to 
        provide emergency services to U.S. citizens outside of Port-au-
        Prince.''
            (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 food crisis in 2008. 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 and civil crises; and the 
        extraordinary and temporary conditions caused by nature, 
        including hurricanes and tropical storms, 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 section 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.
            (17) On February 7, 2008, Haitian President Rene Preval 
        wrote to President George W. Bush formally requesting TPS, 
        making Haitians currently in the United States eligible for TPS 
        under subparagraph (B) of section 244(b)(1) of the Immigration 
        and Nationality Act.
            (18) On October 3, 2008, President Preval renewed his 
        request for TPS during the closing address of the Americas 
        Conference, stating that Haiti is no longer able to receive the 
        deported individuals that the United States sends to Haiti on a 
        regular basis.

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>