WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a leader on immigration reform, and 30 Democratic Senate colleagues introduced the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act that would repeal President Trump’s discriminatory executive order banning travel to the U.S. from majority Muslim countries, strengthen the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion, and limit the President’s overly broad executive authority to issue future travel bans.

“For the last two years, President Trump’s hateful, discriminatory Muslim ban has torn thousands of American families apart and has left a permanent stain on the reputation of the United States,” said Sen. Menendez. “Congress must do the right thing and repeal it. And neither this president, nor any president, should ever again be able to exploit our laws or bend executive authority to target Muslims or any religious community he deems unworthy.”

The NO BAN Act seeks to combat the President’s Muslim ban by:

  • Immediately rescinding each version of the Muslim ban, as well as abuses of power harming refugees and individuals seeking asylum;
  • Amending the Immigration and Nationality Act’s nondiscrimination provision to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on religion and to apply all nondiscrimination protections to immigrant and nonimmigrant visas alike;
  • Limiting the President’s overly broad authority to issue future bans by requiring suspensions and restrictions to be temporary, based on credible facts, narrowly tailored to a compelling interest, and circumscribed to the least restrictive means possible.
  • Requiring the President to consult with the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security before restricting or suspending the entry of individuals, and increasing mandatory reporting requirements to Congress.
  • Providing a presumption in favor of granting humanitarian and family-based waivers.

Read a summary of the bill here.

The Supreme Court ultimately upheld the third version of President Trump’s Muslim ban on June 26, 2018, which indefinitely bans travel from certain countries, including five Muslim-majority countries – Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. In 2018, the first year the ban was in full effect, the State Department rejected approximately 37,000 visa applications from the banned countries. In 2017, fewer than 1,000 were rejected.

Along with Senator Menendez, the legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Bob Casey (D-Penn.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), and Gary Peters (D-Mich.).

The nearly 400 organizations supporting the NO BAN Act include Muslim Advocates, the National Immigration Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union, Church World Service, the International Refugee Assistance Project, Interfaith Alliance, National Council of Churches, National Iranian American Council, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League, Amnesty International, the United Methodist Church, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, CREDO, and the Human Rights Campaign. The letter of support can be viewed here.

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