[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 65 (Monday, May 5, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5730-S5731]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REID:
  S. 986. A bill to designate Colombia under section 244 of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act in order to make nationals of Colombia 
eligible for temporary protected status under such section; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, amid all the discussions about 
reconstruction in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is easy for us

[[Page S5731]]

to lose sight of other humanitarian crises. One particularly pressing 
yet overlooked crisis is taking place right here in this hemisphere. 
For almost 40 years, an internal conflict has ravaged Colombia. Rebel 
and paramilitary groups designated as terrorist organizations by the 
State Department have committed thousands of kidnapings, executions and 
other brutalities. With an estimated combined force of 25,000 
insurgents, they have disrupted life throughout the country and have 
displaced nearly 2 million people, creating the third largest internal 
refugee crisis in the world. The Colombian people are doing everything 
in their power to fight the rebels and rein in the paramilitaries, but 
the conflict shows no signs of ending anytime soon.
  We should continue to help Colombia battle the terrorists in its 
midst. In the meantime, however, it would be unconscionable for us to 
forcibly deport law-abiding nationals currently residing in the United 
States, thereby placing them in danger of being tortured, kidnaped, or 
even murdered upon their return to their war-torn homeland. The bill I 
am introducing today will grant many of these people temporary 
protected status from deportation until it is safe for them to return 
to Colombia. The bill will not grant amnesty to any illegal aliens, nor 
will it place any immigrants on the path to citizenship. It is a purely 
humanitarian act that enjoys plenty of precedent--refugees from several 
Central American and African nations have benefited from temporary 
protected status in the wake of natural disasters and political 
turmoil. Immigration laws state that this protection covers only 
extraordinary circumstances, but we must not hesitate to invoke it when 
those circumstances arise. Extending temporary protected status to 
Colombians is the right thing to do, and I urge my colleagues to 
support this bill.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 986

       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 ``Colombian Temporary 
     Protected Status Act of 2003''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) Colombia has been embroiled in a 38-year internal 
     conflict, resulting in the death of tens of thousands of 
     civilians and combatants;
       (2) the 2 main armed anti-government rebel groups, the 
     Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas 
     Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC) and the National 
     Liberation Army (Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional, or ELN), 
     have engaged in military activities in 700 of 1,098 
     municipalities in Colombia, and in recent years have 
     influenced local governments in as much as 40 percent to 50 
     percent of Colombian territory;
       (3) the FARC and ELN not only attack police and military 
     forces but also regularly attack civilian populations, commit 
     massacres and extrajudicial killings, collect war taxes, 
     compel citizens into their ranks, force farmers to grow 
     illicit crops, and regulate travel, commerce, and other 
     activities;
       (4) paramilitary groups such as the United Self-Defense 
     Groups of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia or AUC), 
     originally established to protect rural landowners, have 
     grown dramatically in recent years to become a major national 
     military force in Colombia;
       (5) paramilitary groups are responsible, according to human 
     rights groups, for the greatest number of extrajudicial 
     killings and forced disappearances in Colombia since 1995;
       (6) the FARC, ELN, and AUC, all designated by the State 
     Department as foreign terrorist organizations, have an 
     estimated combined force of 25,000 combatants;
       (7) the Government of Colombia, particularly during the 
     administration of President Andres Pastrana, has afforded 
     armed rebel groups numerous opportunities to negotiate a 
     peace agreement, including the extraordinary step in November 
     1998 of creating a safe haven for the FARC by withdrawing its 
     security forces from 5 municipalities covering some 16,000 to 
     17,000 square miles;
       (8) despite having been given the opportunity to seek 
     peace, the FARC instead used the safe haven to enhance its 
     military capability to further its violent campaign against 
     the government and people of Colombia;
       (9) while President Pastrana and the Colombian government 
     negotiated in good faith, the FARC proceeded to kidnap 
     political officials;
       (10) in February 2002, the FARC's actions forced President 
     Pastrana to withdraw from the peace process and begin the 
     process of retaking the safe zone he had previously ceded to 
     the FARC and other rebel groups;
       (11) after the election of Alvaro Uribe as Colombia's 
     President, the FARC began targeting mayors with letters 
     declaring that they had 24 hours to leave or would be 
     considered ``military targets'';
       (12) although before the recent Presidential election the 
     violence had been mostly contained in rural areas, it has now 
     spread to the urban areas, with cities such as Medellin 
     experiencing an average of 13 killings a day;
       (13) an average of 2.8 rebel bombs go off every day in 
     Colombia while bomb squads disarm another 5;
       (14) the middle and upper classes have been targeted for 
     kidnaping, with an average of 3,250 Colombians being kidnaped 
     each year since 1998;
       (15) between 1,500,000 and 2,000,000 people have been 
     forced to leave their homes, representing the third largest 
     internal refugee crisis in the world; and
       (16) between 1,500 and 2,500 Colombians were massacred in 
     contested rural areas in 2001.

     SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

       It is the sense of Congress that, in view of the recent 
     escalation of the current civil war in Colombia, Colombia 
     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 Colombian nationals would be eligible for 
     temporary protected status in the United States.

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

       (a) Designation.--
       (1) In general.--For purposes of section 244 of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a), Colombia 
     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 Colombia 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).
                                 ______