H.R. 5317 (ih) To increase accountability for Government spending and to reduce wasteful Government spending. [Introduced in House] ...

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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>

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