Hurricane Eta Relief Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8793 To designate Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala under section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 19, 2020 Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself, Mr. SIRES, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. MENG, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. NORTON, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. TITUS, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. WELCH, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. TAKANO, and Mr. PALLONE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To designate Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala under section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hurricane Eta Relief 4 Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION FOR PURPOSES OF GRANTING TEM- 6 PORARY PROTECTED STATUS. 7 (a) DESIGNATION.— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8793.IH H8793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8793 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 244 1 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 2 1254a), the countries described in paragraph (2) 3 shall be treated as if each had been designated 4 under subsection (b)(1)(B) of that section, subject to 5 the provisions of this section. 6 (2) COUNTRIES.—The countries described in 7 this paragraph are the following: 8 (A) Nicaragua. 9 (B) Honduras. 10 (C) Guatemala. 11 (3) PERIOD OF DESIGNATION.—The initial pe- 12 riod of the designation referred to in paragraph (1) 13 shall be for the 18-month period beginning on the 14 date of the enactment of this Act. 15 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE.—As a result of the designa- 16 tion made under subsection (a), an alien who is a national 17 of any country described in paragraph (2) is deemed to 18 satisfy the requirements under paragraph (1) of section 19 244(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 20 1254a(c)), subject to paragraph (3) of such section, if the 21 alien— 22 (1) has been continuously physically present in 23 the United States since the date of the enactment of 24 this Act; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8793.IH H8793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8793 IH (2) is admissible as an immigrant, except as 1 otherwise provided in paragraph (2)(A) of such sec- 2 tion, and is not ineligible for temporary protected 3 status under paragraph (2)(B) of such section; and 4 (3) registers for temporary protected status in 5 a manner established by the Secretary of Homeland 6 Security. 7 (c) CONSENT TO TRAVEL ABROAD.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 9 Security shall give prior consent to travel abroad, in 10 accordance with section 244(f)(3) of the Immigra- 11 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(f)(3)), to 12 an alien who is granted temporary protected status 13 pursuant to the designation made under subsection 14 (a) if the alien establishes to the satisfaction of the 15 Secretary of Homeland Security that emergency and 16 extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the 17 alien require the alien to depart for a brief, tem- 18 porary trip abroad. 19 (2) TREATMENT UPON RETURN.—An alien re- 20 turning to the United States in accordance with an 21 authorization described in paragraph (1) shall be 22 treated as any other returning alien provided tem- 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8793.IH H8793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8793 IH porary protected status under section 244 of the Im- 1 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a). 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8793.IH H8793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS