I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2853

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 24, 2003

Mr. MCGOVERN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

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.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Colombian Temporary 

5 Protected Status Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) Colombia has been embroiled in a 38-year 

2 internal conflict, resulting in the death of tens of 

3 thousands civilians and combatants; 

4 (2) the 2 main armed antigovernment rebel 

5 groups, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colom6 bia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, 

7 or FARC) and the National Liberation Army 

8 (Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional, or ELN) control, 

9 operate in, or influence 40 to 50 percent of Colom10 bia’s territory; 

11 (3) the FARC and ELN regularly attack civil12 ian populations, commit extrajudicial killings and 

13 massacres, collect war taxes, compel civilians into 

14 their ranks, and engage in other coercive practices 

15 against the civilian population, including the growing 

16 of illicit crops; 

17 (4) the main paramilitary groups, such as the 

18 United Self-Defense Groups of Colombia 

19 (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, or AUC), have 

20 grown dramatically in recent years to become a 

21 major national force, operating in nearly every de22 partment of the country; 

23 (5) the AUC and related paramilitary groups 

24 are responsible, according to human rights groups, 

25 for over 70 percent of extradjudicial killings and 
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1 forced disappearances in Colombia since 1995, and 

2 regularly attack civilian populations and engage in 

3 other coercive practices against the civilian popu4 lation, including the growing of illicit crops; 

5 (6) the FARC, ELN, and AUC, all designated 

6 by the Department of State as foreign terrorist or7 ganizations, have an estimated combined force of 

8 35,000 combatants; 

9 (7) according to Colombian and international 

10 refugee organizations, the number of people newly 

11 displaced by political violence increased by 30 per12 cent from 317,340 in 2000 to 412,000 in 2002, 

13 making Colombia’s internally displaced population of 

14 approximately 3 million people the second largest 

15 population of internally displaced people in the 

16 world; 

17 (8) Afro-Colombian communities, especially the 

18 largely Afro-Colombian province of Choco, registered 

19 the highest percentage of population displaced in 

20 2002; 

21 (9) according to Colombian and international 

22 human rights organizations, the number of people 

23 killed or disappeared per day increased from 14 in 

24 2000 to 20 in 2002; 
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1 (10) according to the United Nations High 

2 Commissioner for Human Rights 2003 Annual Re3 port, direct violations by the Colombian military in4 creased in 2002; 

5 (11) according to Colombian and international 

6 human rights organizations and the State Depart7 ment’s own country reports, significant collaboration 

8 between the AUC and related paramilitary forces 

9 and the Colombian Armed Forces remain persistent 

10 and pervasive, especially at the local, departmental, 

11 and regional level; 

12 (12) kidnappings, perpetrated mainly by the 

13 FARC, ELN and criminal organizations, target 

14 mainly middle and upper classes and political and 

15 business leaders, while declining from 3,706 in 2000 

16 to 2,986 in 2002, remain unacceptably high and af17 fect the daily security of the target populations; 

18 (13) President Uribe has reduced by more than 

19 50 percent the budgets for the Colombian Human 

20 Rights Ombudsman Office (La Procuraduria) and 

21 for local, regional and federal-level attorneys and of22 ficers of the Colombian Human Rights Defenders 

23 Office (Defensoria del Pueblo); 

24 (14) investigations and prosecutions of human 

25 rights crimes have stalled or been dismissed during 
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1 the 2002–2003 tenure of Colombian Attorney Gen2 eral Luis Camilo Osorio; 

3 (15) there is little likelihood of a resumption of 

4 peace negotiations between the Colombian govern5 ment and the largest rebel force, the FARC, fol6 lowing the collapse of talks in 2002; and 

7 (16) the violence of the war, which had been 

8 mostly contained in rural areas prior to 2002, has 

9 now spread to urban areas, with cities such as 

10 Medellin experiencing an average of 13 killings a 

11 day, is daily escalating with no foreseeable relief in 

12 either rural or urban regions. 

13 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

14 It is the sense of the Congress that, in view of the 

15 recent escalation of the current civil war in Colombia, Co16 lombia qualifies for designation under section 

17 244(b)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

18 U.S.C. 1254a(b)(1)(A)), pursuant to which Colombian na19 tionals would be eligible for temporary protected status in 

20 the United States. 

21 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION FOR PURPOSES OF GRANTING TEM22 PORARY PROTECTED STATUS TO COLOM23 BIANS. 

24 (a) DESIGNATION.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 244 

2 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

3 1254a), Colombia shall be treated as if it had been 

4 designated under subsection (b) of that section, sub5 ject to the provisions of this section. 

6 (2) PERIOD OF DESIGNATION.—The initial pe7 riod of such designation shall begin on the date of 

8 enactment of this Act and shall remain in effect for 

9 2 years. 

10 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE.—In applying section 244 of 

11 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a) 

12 pursuant to the designation made under this section, sub13 ject to section 244(c)(3) of the Immigration and Nation14 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)(3)), an alien who is a na15 tional of Colombia meets the requirements of section 

16 244(c)(1) of that Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)(1)) only if—

17 (1) the alien has been continuously physically 

18 present in the United States since the date of enact19 ment of this Act; 

20 (2) the alien is admissible as an immigrant, ex21 cept as otherwise provided under section 

22 244(c)(2)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality 

23 Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)(2)(A)), and is not ineligible 

24 for temporary protected status under section 
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1 244(c)(2)(B) of that Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)(2)(B)); 

2 and 

3 (3) the alien registers for temporary protected 

4 status in a manner that the Secretary of Homeland 

5 Security shall establish. 

6 (c) CONSENT TO TRAVEL ABROAD.—The Secretary 

7 of Homeland Security shall give the prior consent to travel 

8 abroad described in section 244(f)(3) of the Immigration 

9 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(f)(3)) to an alien 

10 who is granted temporary protected status pursuant to the 

11 designation made under this section, if the alien estab12 lishes to the satisfaction of the Secretary of Homeland Se13 curity that emergency and extenuating circumstances be14 yond the control of the alien require the alien to depart 

15 for a brief, temporary trip abroad. An alien returning to 

16 the United States in accordance with such an authoriza17 tion shall be treated the same as any other returning alien 

18 provided temporary protected status under section 244 of 

19 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a).

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