S.Amdt. 2578

SA 2578. Mr. MENENDEZ submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
to amendment SA 2282 submitted by Mr. Inhofe (for himself and Mr.
McCain) and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 5515, to authorize
appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for military activities of the
Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense
activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel
strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle G of title XII, add the following:

SEC. 12__. ROLE OF DEPARTMENT OF STATE REGARDING DESIGNATIONS
AND EXTENSIONS OF DESIGNATIONS OF TEMPORARY
PROTECTED STATUS.

(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The United States Embassies in Honduras, El Salvador,
and Haiti recommended that it would be in the United States
national interest to extend temporary protected status (TPS)
designations for each such country, per diplomatic cables
sent in June 2017, July 2017, and August 2017, respectively.
(2) The United States Embassy in Haiti, in a diplomatic
cable sent in August 2017, stated that repatriating tens of
thousands of TPS beneficiaries and their United States
citizen children would pose challenges to the ability of the
Haitian National Police to guarantee security throughout
Haiti.
(3) In his October 31, 2017, letter to the Department of
Homeland Security, then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
warned that terminating the TPS designations for El Salvador
and Honduras may lead to retaliatory actions by both
governments that would be counter to United States national
security interests, including a potential reduction in
bilateral cooperation to address narcotics trafficking and
the illicit activities of criminal gangs, such as MS-13.
(4) In recommendations accompanying then Secretary
Tillerson's October 31, 2017, letter to the Department of
Homeland Security, the Department of State warned that the
prevalence of violence and lack of economic opportunities in
El Salvador and Honduras would leave some repatriated TPS
beneficiaries and their accompanying United States citizen
children vulnerable to recruitment by criminal gangs, such as
MS-13, or other forms of illicit employment.
(5) The Executive announced the termination of the TPS
designations for El Salvador and Haiti in November 2017 and
for Honduras in May 2018.
(b) Role of Department of State Regarding Designations.--
Section 244(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1254a(b)(1)) is amended by inserting ``in coordination
with the Secretary of State, and'' before ``after
consultation with appropriate agencies of the Government''.

[[Page S3390]]

(c) Role of Department of State Regarding Extension or
Termination of Designations.--Section 244(b)(3) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(b)(3)) is
amended--
(1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) as
subparagraphs (B), (C), and (D) respectively;
(2) by inserting before subparagraph (B) the following:
``(A) Assessment of country conditions.--Not less than 90
days before the date on which the initial period of
designation or any extended period of designation of a
foreign state (or a part of a foreign state) under this
section ends, the Secretary of State shall submit to the
Secretary of Homeland Security--
``(i) an assessment of the conditions in the foreign state
(or the part of the foreign state) based on 1 or more reports
from the United States Embassy located in the foreign state;
and
``(ii) a recommendation for whether such designation should
be extended.'';
(3) in subparagraph (B), as redesignated in paragraph (1),
by inserting ``in coordination with the Secretary of State,
and'' before ``after consultation with appropriate agencies
of the Government'';
(4) in subparagraph (C), as redesignated in paragraph (1),
by inserting ``, in coordination with the Secretary of
State,'' before ``determines under subparagraph (A)''; and
(5) in subparagraph (D), as redesignated in paragraph (1),
by inserting ``, in coordination with the Secretary of
State,'' before ``does not determine under subparagraph
(A)''.
(d) Report on the Role of the Department State Regarding
Designations and Extension or Termination of Designations.--
Section 244(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1254a(b)) is amended by adding at the end the
following new paragraph:
``(6) Report.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary of State shall submit to
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives
a report that includes the assessment and recommendation
submitted to the Secretary of Homeland Security at the time
at which--
``(i) a foreign state is designated for temporary protected
status; or
``(ii) the existing designation of a foreign state for
temporary protected status is extended or terminated.
``(B) Matters to be included.--The report under
subparagraph (A) shall include assessments and
recommendations submitted to the Secretary of State by--
``(i) each relevant bureau of the Department of State; and
``(ii) the United States Embassy located in the applicable
foreign state.''.

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