Emergency Relief for Caribbean Nationals Act - Requires Haiti, Grenada, and the Cayman Islands to be treated as if such countries had been designated for purposes of the temporary protected status (TPS) provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Requires the initial period of designation to remain in effect for 18 months beginning on the date of enactment of this Act.
Limits eligibility for TPS under this Act to aliens who: (1) have been continuously physically present in the United States since September 7, 2004; (2) are admissible as immigrants or eligible for certain waivers of inadmissibility and are not ineligible for TPS; and (3) register for TPS in the manner established by the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Directs the Secretary to give prior consent to travel abroad to an alien granted TPS pursuant to this Act if the alien establishes that emergency and extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the alien require the alien to depart for a brief, temporary trip abroad.
[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5316 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5316
To designate Haiti, Grenada, and the Cayman Islands under section 244
of the Immigration and Nationality Act in order to make nationals of
those countries eligible for temporary protected status under such
section.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 8, 2004
Mr. Hastings of Florida (for himself, Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of
Florida, Mr. Rush, Mr. Towns, Mrs. Christensen, and Mr. Deutsch)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To designate Haiti, Grenada, and the Cayman Islands under section 244
of the Immigration and Nationality Act in order to make nationals of
those countries 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 ``Emergency Relief for Caribbean
Nationals Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Haiti, Grenada, and the Cayman Islands have been
severely devastated by Tropical Storm Jeanne and Hurricane
Ivan.
(2) On September 16, 2004, Tropical Storm Jeanne struck the
Dominican Republic and Haiti.
(3) In Haiti, more than 1,500 people are known dead while
more than 1,000 people are missing as a result of Tropical
Storm Jeanne.
(4) After visiting the stricken northern city of Gonoies,
Haiti, Prime Minister Gerard Latortue stated ``We have a
problem with bodies: there is a risk of epidemic. If you can
picture this: there is no electricity, the morgues are not
working, there is water everywhere.''.
(5) A United Nations spokesman stated that the corpses of
victims of Tropical Storm Jeanne in Haiti had to be buried in
mass graves as soon as possible to stop disease from spreading.
(6) Dieufort Deslorges, spokesman for 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.
(7) When Tropical Storm Jeanne hit, Haiti was already
struggling to deal with political instability and the aftermath
of serious floods that occurred in May 2004.
(8) Hurricane Ivan killed 39 people in Grenada and left
40,000 of its 90,000 inhabitants living in a few hundred
houses, schools, and churches that have been converted into
shelters.
(9) Prime Minister of Grenada Keith Mitchell, whose
official residence was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan, declared a
national disaster and stated that the island was ``90 percent
devastated''.
(10) Hurricane Ivan struck St. George, the capital of
Grenada, with 125 mile per hour winds that flattened homes,
disrupted power, damaged the main hospital, and destroyed the
emergency operations center, the main prison, and many schools.
(11) On September 15, 2004, electrical engineers funded by
the Office of United States Foreign Disaster Assistance of the
United States Agency for International Development assessed
damage across Grenada and estimated that 85 to 90 percent of
the electricity systems on the west and north coasts of Grenada
had been destroyed.
(12) In Grenada, an environmental health hazard has arisen
as runoff, which contains pathogens from several sources
including human waste, is contaminating rivers where people
wash and bathe.
(13) As of September 10, 2004, there were widespread
reports of looting in Grenada. American students at St.
George's University in Grenada told the Associated Press news
agency that they felt unsafe and had armed themselves against
looters with knives, sticks, and pepper spray.
(14) Grenada may need as much as $2,200,000,000, or four
times its annual economic output, to rebuild after the
devastation caused by Hurricane Ivan.
(15) The assistance needed to rebuild Grenada must come
from abroad as the main industries of Grenada, nutmeg exports
and tourism, have been devastated by the storm.
(16) Hurricane Ivan, the strongest storm to hit the
Caribbean region in a decade, struck the Cayman Islands with
150 mile per hour winds that tore roofs off houses, uprooted
trees, and caused flooding across the British territory.
(17) International media sources reported that the Cayman
Islands sustained extreme damage as a result of Hurricane Ivan.
Local authorities report that 15 to 20 percent of homes on the
eastern part of the Cayman Islands were completely destroyed
and another 50 percent suffered significant damage.
(18) The unusual hurricane activity in the Caribbean region
during 2004 has created an extraordinary and temporary
condition in Haiti, Grenada, and the Cayman Islands that
prevents nationals of those countries who are in the United
States from returning to their homes.
(19) Temporary protected status allows aliens who do not
legally qualify as refugees but are nonetheless fleeing or
reluctant to return to potentially dangerous situations to
temporarily remain in the United States.
(20) Granting temporary protected status to nationals of
Haiti, Grenada, and the Cayman Islands is consistent with the
interest of the United States and promotes the values and
morals that have made the United States strong.
(21) The extraordinary and temporary conditions caused by
nature and resulting in floods, epidemics, and other
environmental disasters in Haiti, Grenada, and the Cayman
Islands should make the nationals of those countries eligible
for temporary protected status.
SEC. 3. DESIGNATION FOR PURPOSES OF GRANTING TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS
TO HAITIANS, GRENADIANS, AND CAYMANIANS.
(a) Designation.--
(1) In general.--For purposes of section 244 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a), Haiti,
Grenada, and the Cayman Islands shall be treated as if such
countries 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, 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
Haiti, Grenada, or the Cayman Islands 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 September 7, 2004;
(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>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E1937-1938)
Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims.
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