text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Colombian Temporary Protected Status 
  Act of 2002''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      Congress finds that--
              (1) Colombia has been embroiled in a 38-year civil war, 
          resulting in the death of tens of thousands of civilians and 
          combatants;
              (2) the two main armed anti-government rebel groups, the 
          Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas 
          Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC) and the National 
          Liberation Army (Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional, or ELN), have 
          engaged in military activities in 700 of 1,098 municipalities 
          in Colombia, and in recent years have controlled or influenced 
          local governments in as much as 40 percent to 50 percent of 
          Colombian territory;
              (3) the FARC and ELN not only attack police and military 
          forces but also regularly attack civilian populations, commit 
          massacres and extrajudicial killings, collect war taxes, compel 
          citizens into their ranks, force farmers to grow illicit crops, 
          and regulate travel, commerce, and other activities;
              (4) paramilitary groups such as the United Self-Defense 
          Groups of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia or AUC), 
          originally established to protect rural landowners, have grown 
          dramatically in recent years to become a major national 
          military force in Colombia;
              (5) paramilitary groups are responsible, according to human 
          rights groups, for the greatest number of extrajudicial 
          killings and forced disappearances in Colombia since 1995;
              (6) the FARC, ELN, and AUC, all designated by the State 
          Department as foreign terrorist organizations, have a combined 
          force of 25,000 combatants;
              (7) the Government of Colombia, particularly during the 
          administration of President Andres Pastrana, has afforded armed 
          rebel groups numerous opportunities to negotiate a peace 
          agreement, including the extraordinary step in November 1998 of 
          creating a safe haven for the FARC by withdrawing its security 
          forces from 5 municipalities covering some 16,000-17,000 square 
          miles;
              (8) despite having been given the opportunity to seek 
          peace, the FARC instead used the safe haven to enhance its 
          military capability to further its violent campaign against the 
          government and people of Colombia;
              (9) while President Pastrana and the Colombian government 
          negotiated in good faith, the FARC proceeded to kidnap 
          political officials, including presidential candidate former 
          Senator Ingrid Betancourt, as well as execute Members of 
          Congress who were engaged in negotiations with the FARC, such 
          as Senator Martha Catalina Daniels;
              (10) in February of this year, the FARC's actions forced 
          President Pastrana to withdraw from the peace process and begin 
          the process of retaking the safe zone he had previously ceded 
          to the FARC and other rebel groups;
              (11) after the election of Alvaro Uribe as Colombia's 
          President, the FARC began targeting mayors with letters 
          declaring that they had 24 hours to leave or would be 
          considered ``military targets'';
              (12) although before the recent Presidential election the 
          violence had been mostly contained in rural areas, it has now 
          spread to the urban areas, with cities such as Medellin 
          experiencing an average of 13 killings a day;
              (13) an average of 2.8 rebel bombs go off every day in 
          Colombia while bomb squads disarm another five;
              (14) the middle and upper classes have been targeted for 
          kidnaping, with an average of 3,250 Colombians being kidnaped 
          each year since 1998;
              (15) between 1,500,000 and 2,000,000 people have been 
          forced to leave their homes, representing the third largest 
          internal refugee crisis in the world; and
              (16) between 1,500 and 2,500 Colombians were massacred in 
          contested rural areas in 2001.
  
  SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
  
      It is the sense of Congress that, in view of the recent escalation 
  of the current civil war in Colombia, Colombia qualifies for 
  designation under section 244(b)(1)(A) of the Immigration and 
  Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(b)(1)(A)), pursuant to which Colombian 
  nationals would be eligible for temporary protected status in the 
  United States.
  
  SEC. 4. DESIGNATION FOR PURPOSES OF GRANTING TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS 
                TO COLOMBIANS.
  
      (a) Designation.--
              (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 such section, subject to the provisions of this section.
              (2) Period of designation.--The initial period of such 
          designation shall begin on the date of the enactment of this 
          Act and shall remain in effect for 1 year.
      (b) Aliens Eligible.--In applying section 244 of the Immigration 
  and Nationality Act pursuant to the designation under this Act, subject 
  to section 244(c)(3) of such Act, an alien who is a national of 
  Colombia meets the requirements of section 244(c)(1) of such Act only 
  if--
              (1) the alien has been continuously physically present in 
          the United States since the date of enactment of this Act;
              (2) the alien is admissible as an immigrant, except as 
          otherwise provided under section 244(c)(2)(A) of such Act, and 
          is not ineligible for temporary protected status under section 
          244(c)(2)(B) of such Act; and
              (3) the alien registers for temporary protected status in a 
          manner that the Attorney General shall establish.
      (c) Consent to Travel Abroad.--The Attorney General shall give the 
  prior consent to travel abroad described in section 244(f)(3) of the 
  Immigration and Nationality Act to an alien who is granted temporary 
  protected status pursuant to the designation under this Act, if the 
  alien establishes to the satisfaction of the Attorney General 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 such Act.
target: Columbian Temporary Protected Status Act of 2002 - Expresses the sense of Congress in favor of extending temporary protected status to Columbian nationals in the United States.Designates Columbia under the Immigration and Nationality Act as a country undergoing an ongoing armed conflict in order to make qualifying Columbians living in the United States eligible aliens for temporary protected status.
feat_title: 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.