A group of Democratic lawmakers introduced bills in the House and Senate on Wednesday aimed at stopping a second ban on immigration from certain Muslim countries.
The National Anti-Discrimination for Nonimmigrants on the Basis of Origin (NO BAN) Act would strengthen federal immigration law to prevent discrimination based on religion and limit “overly broad executive authority” to ban travel.
The bills are led by Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and are similar to a bill passed by the House in 2021.
Former President Trump’s travel ban, enacted by executive order in January 2017, initially targeted immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. It was modified as it faced legal challenges, eventually covering Iran, Syria, Yemen, Libya and Somalia, as well as North Korea and Venezuela, before the Supreme Court upheld it in 2018.
President Biden overturned the ban when he took office in 2021. Trump has threatened to reinstate a similar ban if he is re-elected.
“A hateful stain on our nation, Trump’s Muslim ban was inspired by bigotry and Islamophobia and has caused lasting harm to the families it separated,” Chu said in a statement. “I was very grateful when the Biden-Harris administration took action on its first day to rescind all versions of this ban, but we cannot risk allowing prejudice against Muslims, or any other religious minority, to become political once again.”
Coons called Trump’s ban “cruel” and “counterproductive.”
“It destroyed families; led to people being detained at airports for hours with limited access to food, water or legal representation; and violated the very fabric of who we are as a country,” he said in a statement. “We must ensure that this senseless policy is never repeated and that no elected official acts on fear and prejudice to discriminate on the basis of religion or national origin.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
