10 Named Organizations in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 (CAA)

In December 2007, Congress named 10 organizations in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 (CAA) that are not to be considered Tier III organizations on account of any activity prior to December 27, 2007, when the CAA was signed into law.  These groups include:

• Karen National Union/Karen National Army (KNU/KNA) - Burma
• Chin National Front/Chin National Army (CNF/CNA) - Burma
• Chin National League for Democracy (CNLD) - Burma
• Kayan New Land Party (KNLP) - Burma
• Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) - Burma
• Tibetan Mustangs - Tibet
• Cuban Alzados - Cuba
• Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) - Burma
• “Appropriate groups affiliated with the Hmong” – Vietnam
• “Appropriate groups affiliated with Montagnards” – Vietnam
• African National Congress (ANC) – South Africa (Added July 2008 by P.L. 110-257).

Association or activity with one of the named groups prior to December 27, 2007, does not make an individual inadmissible under INA Section 212(a)(3)(B).  This is true even if the group engaged in terrorist activity after that date.  However, any terrorist activity by one of these groups after December 27, 2007, will result in the group’s return to Tier III status.  In addition, certain inadmissibility grounds remained unaffected by the CAA’s automatic relief provisions.  In order to address this, the Secretaries of Homeland Security and State issued a number of exemptions in June 2008 that allowed the consideration of exemptions for individuals having exemptible activities or affiliations with the 10 groups named in the CAA.
For more information on these exemptions, please see the links below.
June 18, 2008, Exercise of Authority
July 28, 2008, USCIS Implementation Memo “Implementation of Section 691 of Division J of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, and Updated Processing Requirements for Discretionary Exemptions to Terrorist Activity Inadmissibility Grounds”
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