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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2091

To designate the Republic of Montenegro, the Former Yugoslav Republic

of Macedonia, and the Republic of Albania under section 244 of the

Immigration and Nationality Act in order to render nationals of these

foreign states eligible for temporary protected status under such section.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 9, 1999

Mrs. BIGGERT (for herself, Mr. ENGEL, Mrs. KELLY, Mrs. WILSON, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. CROWLEY, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To designate the Republic of Montenegro, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and the Republic of Albania

under section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality

Act in order to render nationals of these foreign states

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. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds the following:

5 (1) An estimated 780,000 Kosovar refugees

6 have been driven out of their homes to the Republic
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1 of Montenegro, the Former Yugoslav Republic of

2 Macedonia, and the Republic of Albania as a result

3 of ethnic cleansing.

4 (2) The influx of refugees into these areas has

5 placed a significant burden on these countries and

6 their ability to process and house additional inhab7 itants.

8 (3) The United States Immigration and Natu9 ralization Service continues to process and detain

10 immigrants for deportation to these countries, de11 spite the instability created by the ethnic cleansing

12 in Kosovo.

13 (4) The stability of the countries surrounding

14 Kosovo and their ability to process refugees is of

15 vital national interest to the United States and is in16 tegrally related to the success of the ongoing North

17 Atlantic Treaty Organization campaign.

18 (5) It is in the national interest of the United

19 States to lessen the burden of burgeoning populace

20 by granting temporary protected status to aliens

21 from these countries.
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1 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION FOR PURPOSES OF GRANTING TEM2 PORARY PROTECTED STATUS TO

3 MONTENEGRINS, MACEDONIANS, AND ALBA4 NIANS.

5 (a) DESIGNATION.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 244

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

8 1254a), the Republic of Montenegro, the Former

9 Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and the Republic

10 of Albania shall each be treated as if it had been

11 designated under subsection (b) of such section, sub12 ject to the provisions of this section.

13 (2) PERIOD OF DESIGNATION.—Such designa14 tion shall take effect on the date of the enactment

15 of this Act and shall remain in effect until such time

16 as the President certifies to the Congress that condi17 tions are sufficiently improved to allow aliens to re18 turn to these countries, or such time as the designa19 tion with respect to Kosovar expires and is not ex20 tended, whichever occurs later.

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

22 the Immigration and Nationality Act pursuant to the des23 ignation under this Act, subject to section 244(c)(3) of

24 such Act, an alien who is a national of the Republic of

25 Montenegro, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
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1 or the Republic of Albania meets the requirement of sec2 tion 244(c)(1) of such Act only if—

3 (1) the alien has been continuously physically

4 present in the United States since March 24, 1999;

5 (2) the alien is admissible as an immigrant, ex6 cept as otherwise provided under section

7 244(c)(2)(A) of such Act, and is not ineligible for

8 temporary protected status under section

9 244(c)(2)(B) of such Act; and

10 (3) the alien registers for temporary protected

11 status in a manner which the Attorney General shall

12 establish.

13 (c) CONSENT TO TRAVEL ABROAD.—The Attorney

14 General shall give the prior consent to travel abroad de15 scribed in section 244(f)(3) of the Immigration and Na16 tionality Act to an alien who is granted temporary pro17 tected status pursuant to the designation under this Act,

18 if the alien establishes to the satisfaction of the Attorney

19 General that emergency and extenuating circumstances

20 beyond the control of the alien require the alien to depart

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

22 the United States in accordance with such an authoriza23 tion shall be treated the same as any other returning alien
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1 provided temporary protected status under section 244 of

2 such Act.

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