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 pro-
tected 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 Colom-
bia eligible for temporary protected status under such 
section.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Colombian Temporary 
Protected Status Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that—
(1) Colombia has been embroiled in a 38-year 
internal conflict, resulting in the death of tens of 
thousands civilians and combatants; 
(2) the 2 main armed antigovernment rebel 
groups, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colom-
bia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, 
or FARC) and the National Liberation Army 
(Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional, or ELN) control, 
operate in, or influence 40 to 50 percent of Colom-
bia’s territory; 
(3) the FARC and ELN regularly attack civil-
ian populations, commit extrajudicial killings and 
massacres, collect war taxes, compel civilians into 
their ranks, and engage in other coercive practices 
against the civilian population, including the growing 
of illicit crops; 
(4) the main paramilitary groups, such as the 
United 
Self-Defense 
Groups 
of 
Colombia 
(Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, or AUC), have 
grown dramatically in recent years to become a 
major national force, operating in nearly every de-
partment of the country; 
(5) the AUC and related paramilitary groups 
are responsible, according to human rights groups, 
for over 70 percent of extradjudicial killings and
forced disappearances in Colombia since 1995, and 
regularly attack civilian populations and engage in 
other coercive practices against the civilian popu-
lation, including the growing of illicit crops; 
(6) the FARC, ELN, and AUC, all designated 
by the Department of State as foreign terrorist or-
ganizations, have an estimated combined force of 
35,000 combatants; 
(7) according to Colombian and international 
refugee organizations, the number of people newly 
displaced by political violence increased by 30 per-
cent from 317,340 in 2000 to 412,000 in 2002, 
making Colombia’s internally displaced population of 
approximately 3 million people the second largest 
population of internally displaced people in the 
world; 
(8) Afro-Colombian communities, especially the 
largely Afro-Colombian province of Choco, registered 
the highest percentage of population displaced in 
2002; 
(9) according to Colombian and international 
human rights organizations, the number of people 
killed or disappeared per day increased from 14 in 
2000 to 20 in 2002;
(10) according to the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Human Rights 2003 Annual Re-
port, direct violations by the Colombian military in-
creased in 2002; 
(11) according to Colombian and international 
human rights organizations and the State Depart-
ment’s own country reports, significant collaboration 
between the AUC and related paramilitary forces 
and the Colombian Armed Forces remain persistent 
and pervasive, especially at the local, departmental, 
and regional level; 
(12) kidnappings, perpetrated mainly by the 
FARC, ELN and criminal organizations, target 
mainly middle and upper classes and political and 
business leaders, while declining from 3,706 in 2000 
to 2,986 in 2002, remain unacceptably high and af-
fect the daily security of the target populations; 
(13) President Uribe has reduced by more than 
50 percent the budgets for the Colombian Human 
Rights Ombudsman Office (La Procuraduria) and 
for local, regional and federal-level attorneys and of-
ficers of the Colombian Human Rights Defenders 
Office (Defensoria del Pueblo); 
(14) investigations and prosecutions of human 
rights crimes have stalled or been dismissed during
(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 244 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1254a), Colombia shall be treated as if it had been 
designated under subsection (b) of that section, sub-
ject to the provisions of this section. 
(2) PERIOD OF DESIGNATION.—The initial pe-
riod of such designation shall begin on the date of 
enactment of this Act and shall remain in effect for 
2 years. 
(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, sub-
ject to section 244(c)(3) of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)(3)), an alien who is a na-
tional of Colombia 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 the date of enact-
ment of this Act; 
(2) the alien is admissible as an immigrant, ex-
cept 
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 estab-
lishes to the satisfaction of the Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity that emergency and extenuating circumstances be-
yond 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 authoriza-
tion 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).
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