I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 522 

To designate Haiti under section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality 

Act in order to render nationals of Haiti eligible for temporary protected 

status under such section. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 17, 2007 

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, 

Mr. MEEK of Florida, Mr. WEXLER, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, 

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. WATERS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. LEE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SERRANO, 

Mr. CROWLEY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mr. GONZALEZ) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To designate Haiti under section 244 of the Immigration 

and Nationality Act in order to render nationals of Haiti 

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 ‘‘Haitian Protection Act 

5 of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Haiti remains severely devastated by the 

4 combined effects of ongoing political turmoil and the 

5 aftermath of the natural disasters of 2004, such as 

6 Tropical Storm Jeanne and Hurricane Ivan. 

7 (2) In Haiti, more than 2,500 people died as a 

8 result of Tropical Storm Jeanne in 2004. 

9 (3) The civil protection agency of Haiti stated 

10 that 250,000 people were homeless across the coun11 try and at least 4,000 homes were destroyed, with 

12 thousands more damaged, as a result of the storm. 

13 (4) When Tropical Storm Jeanne hit, Haiti was 

14 already struggling to deal with political instability 

15 and the aftermath of serious floods from a heavy 

16 rain on May 26, 2004, which killed over 3,000 peo17 ple. 

18 (5) Despite President Pre ́val’s popular internal 

19 and international support, his nascent democratic 

20 government still faces immense political and institu21 tional challenges, including a sharp increase in com22 mon crime, especially kidnappings which continue to 

23 plague the capital and other cities and regions, and 

24 the rebuilding of Haiti’s police and judicial institu25 tions to achieve the fair and prompt tackling of this 

26 ongoing political and criminal violence. 


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1 (6) On Thursday, December 21, 2006, 

2 UNICEF issued a statement condemning the in3 creased kidnappings of children in Haiti. 

4 (7) As of January 2007, the Department of 

5 State maintains a travel warning to United States 

6 citizens warning them of the absence of an effective 

7 police force in much of Haiti; the potential for 

8 looting; the presence of intermittent roadblocks set 

9 by armed gangs or by the police; and the possibility 

10 of random violent crime, including carjacking and 

11 assault. The warning states that kidnapping for ran12 som remains a serious threat, with more than 50 

13 American citizens, including children, kidnapped 

14 over the past year. 

15 (8) As of January 2007, the Department of 

16 State’s Consular Information Sheet states that 

17 ‘‘United States Embassy personnel are under an em18 bassy-imposed curfew and must remain in their 

19 homes or in United States government facilities dur20 ing the curfew. The embassy has limited travel by its 

21 staff outside of Port-au-Prince and therefore its abil22 ity to provide emergency services to United States 

23 citizens outside of Port-au-Prince is constrained’’. 

24 (9) While United States policy advises Ameri25 cans that current conditions make it unsafe to travel 


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1 to Haiti, the same conditions make it dangerous and 

2 inappropriate to forcibly repatriate Haitians at this 

3 time. 

4 (10) Recent devastating environmental disasters 

5 from which Haiti has not recovered, continuing vio6 lence, and unstable political conditions pose a seri7 ous threat at this time to the personal safety of any8 one forcibly repatriated to Haiti. 

9 (11) The Haitian government’s ability to pro10 vide basic governmental services—clean water, edu11 cation, passable road and basic healthcare—has been 

12 severely compromised by the natural disasters and 

13 disrupted by the violent overthrow of the constitu14 tional government in 2004. Repatriating Haitians 

15 exposes them to these dangerous conditions, while 

16 imposing an additional burden on government re17 sources that are already stretched too thin. 

18 (12) Haiti’s recent political, civil, and govern19 mental crises; and the extraordinary and temporary 

20 conditions caused by nature, including floods, 

21 epidemics, homelessness, death and the burying of 

22 Haiti’s fourth largest city, Gonaives, easily make 

23 Haitian nationals currently in the United States eli24 gible for temporary protected status under subparaVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:05 Jan 20, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H522.IH H522

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1 graphs (B) and (C) of sections 244(b)(1) of the Im2 migration and Nationality Act (‘‘TPS’’) . 

3 (13) Moreover, there is a well-documented his4 tory of discrimination against Haitian nationals in 

5 the United States immigration process. 

6 (14) Temporary protected status grants tem7 porary protection from deportation to nationals of a 

8 country in which environmental or political events 

9 have occurred which make it temporarily unsafe to 

10 deport them. TPS has been granted to nationals of 

11 many countries including those of Nicaragua and 

12 Honduras in 1999 following Hurricane Mitch, and 

13 of El Salvador in 2001 following severe earthquakes. 

14 (15) TPS would help protect United States bor15 ders by preserving remittances sent by potential de16 portees. Haitian immigrants in the United States 

17 remit about $1 billion annually to Haiti. These re18 mittances vastly outweigh, in dollar value, United 

19 States foreign aid to Haiti, and are crucial to Haiti’s 

20 recovery from the separate and combined effects of 

21 years of severe environmental disasters, paralyzing 

22 political turmoil, violence, and institutional failure 

23 (16) Granting Haitians TPS would also directly 

24 assist Haiti’s nascent democracy in its efforts to re25 cover from these conditions, stabilize the country’s 


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1 economy, rebuild its political and economic institu2 tions, and provide a future of hope for Haiti’s peo3 ple. 

4 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION FOR PURPOSES OF GRANTING TEM5 PORARY PROTECTED STATUS TO HAITIANS. 

6 (a) DESIGNATION.— 

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

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

9 1254a), Haiti shall be treated as if such country had 

10 been designated under subsection (b) of that section, 

11 subject to the provisions of this section. 

12 (2) PERIOD OF DESIGNATION.—The initial pe13 riod of such designation shall begin on the date of 

14 enactment of this Act and shall remain in effect for 

15 18 months. 

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

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

18 pursuant to the designation made under this section, and 

19 subject to subsection (c)(3) of such section, an alien who 

20 is a national of Haiti is deemed to meet the requirements 

21 of subsection (c)(1) of such section only if the alien— 

22 (1) is admissible as an immigrant, except as 

23 otherwise provided under subsection (c)(2)(A) of 

24 such section, and is not ineligible for temporary proVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:05 Jan 18, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H522.IH H522

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1 tected status under subsection (c)(2)(B) of such sec2 tion; and 

3 (2) registers for temporary protected status in 

4 a manner that the Secretary of Homeland Security 

5 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). 

Æ 


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