Democrats introduce bill that would block another Trump Muslim ban

[RAY BOGAN]

Congressional Democrats reintroduced a bill that would block future executive orders that mirror what was known as former President Donald Trump’s Muslim ban. The lawmaker’s bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to further regulate when and how Presidents can restrict the entry of certain individuals into the United States.  

“A hateful stain on our nation, Trump’s Muslim ban was inspired by bigotry and Islamophobia and did lasting damage to the families it separated,” Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif said in a statement.  “We can’t risk letting prejudice against Muslims, or any other religious minority, become policy once again.”

Chu sponsored the bill alongside Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. 

In January 2017, Former President Trump signed an executive order to block individuals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen – all muslim-majority countries – from entering the United States. 

Trump said he had the authority under Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act which allows the president to suspend the entry of non-citizens when he finds their entry would be detrimental to U.S. interests. The EO worked its way through the courts and was ultimately upheld 5-4 by the Supreme Court. 

This bill is called the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants, or NO BAN Act. It broadens the INA to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion. It also requires specific evidence to support using Section 212(f) for the full duration of the ban or suspension. 

This bill passed the House in both 2020 and 2021 but Democrats were never able to get it signed into law. 

“President Trump abused this authority twisting it in ways that were never intended,” Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said in 2021. “He was the first to deliver on his campaign promise to ban Muslims from the United States, an immoral and disastrous policy that inflicted trauma on thousands of children and families and that made us no safer while weakening our standing in the world.”

Republicans, meanwhile, used the opportunity to call for stronger immigration measures to protect national security. They want President Biden to reinstate Trump-era measures that curtail illegal immigration, particularly the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy which requires migrants to wait south of the border while their asylum claims are being adjudicated. 

They contend President Biden’s decision to end what were called migrant protection protocols went against the advice of career Border Patrol officials. 

“Part of the chief’s immense frustration, no doubt, stems from the fact that he had personally warned the Biden transition team that if they did away with the MPP, there would be a non-stop tidal wave of illegal immigration. That’s exactly what we’ve got,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said in response to Nadler. 

In a Republican controlled House, this bill has no greater chance at becoming law than it did the first two times the sponsors tried. They felt it was important to make another attempt, and a point, with the possibility of a second Trump presidency.