Central American Studies and Temporary Relief Act of 1987
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 1987
Title I: General Accounting Office Investigation and Report - Directs the Comptroller General to: (1) within 60 days of enactment of this Act, begin an investigation concerning displaced nationals of El Salvador and Nicaragua; and (2) report to the Speaker of the House and to the President of the Senate within one year of initiating such investigation. Requires determinations to be made, with respect to displaced Salvadorans and Nicaraguans living in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, or Mexico of: (1) the number and location of such persons; (2) their place of origin in El Salvador or Nicaragua and the period of, and reason for, their displacement; (3) their current living conditions, with particular attention to questions of personal safety and the availability of food and medical assistance; (4) current efforts to provide such necessities; and (5) the impact of the wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua. Requires assessments to be made, in the case of Salvadorans and Nicaraguans returned from the United States to their country, of: (1) their conditions upon return, with particular attention to any human rights violations; and (2) the extent to which these persons have become displaced persons in their country. Requires the investigation, with respect to Salvadorans and Nicaraguans unlawfully in the United States, to: (1) compare the situation in El Salvador and Nicaragua with previous cases of administrative grants of extended voluntary departure under the immigration laws; (2) describe U.S. policies respecting the treatment of other aliens in the United States in similar circumstances; and (3) describe the policies of all other countries in which Salvadorans or Nicaraguans have sought refuge as those policies concern the return of such persons to their country. Title II: Congressional Review - Provides for the referral of such report to the appropriate congressional committees for committee hearings (within 90 days of continuous session after the referral of such report) and committee reports (within 270 days of continuous session after the referral of such report). Title III: Temporary Stay of Deportation - Prohibits the Attorney General from detaining or deporting aliens until the Congress completes its review of the Comptroller General's report of those aliens who: (1) are nationals of El Salvador or Nicaragua; (2) have been continuously present in the United States since before January 20, 1987; (3) are deportable on specified noncriminal grounds; and (4) have signed an agreement to voluntarily leave the United States at the end of such stay of deportation period. States that such period of stay of deportation shall not count as a period of physical presence in the United States for purposes of deportation suspension and status adjustment. States that during such stay of deportation period the alien: (1) shall not be considered to be permanently in the United States; (2) shall not be eligible for public assistance; and (3) may be deemed ineligible for public assistance by a State or any of its political subdivisions.