US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Representative Judy Chu (D-Calif.) reintroduced the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act, which would prevent future bans by the Trump administration on Muslims or any other religious group by strengthening the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit discrimination based on religion. The bill would also require that any suspension of entry into the United States be narrowly tailored, backed by credible evidence, and subject to appropriate consultation with Congress.
“President Trump’s Muslim ban during his first term was un-American, unjust, and weakened our standing in the world,” said Senator Coons. “Now, as the country enters President Trump’s second term, fear and prejudice are once again guiding immigration policy, and his flurry of executive orders have laid the groundwork for another attempt at a Muslim ban. The NO BAN Act is needed now more than ever to ensure that the Trump administration cannot implement discriminatory measures and to reaffirm our nation’s commitment to religious freedom and equality under the law.”
“A hateful stain on our nation’s history, the Muslim Ban that President Trump instituted in his first term was fueled by bigotry and Islamophobia and did lasting damage to the families it separated,” said Representative Chu. “Distressingly, President Trump has already started the process to fulfill his campaign promise to reinstate a ban, signing an Executive Order on his first day back in office that lays the groundwork for a future, and potentially expanded, Muslim Ban. That’s why I am joining Senator Coons and my Democratic colleagues to once again introduce the NO BAN Act to make certain that no president can ever ban people from entering the country solely because of their religion.”
Additionally, Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) reintroduced the Access to Counsel Act, which Senator Coons cosponsored. This bill ensures that U.S. citizens, green card holders, and other individuals with legal status are able to consult with an attorney, relative, or other interested parties to seek assistance if they are detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for more than an hour at ports of entry, including airports. As a result of President Trump’s Muslim Ban in 2017, individuals were held for long periods of time, often without access to legal counsel.
The NO BAN Act was initially introduced in the 116th Congress in response to President Trump’s attempts in 2017 to introduce a Muslim ban. Courts initially struck down the bans, but a conservative Supreme Court upheld a version of the ban in a 5-4 decision. As a result, families were separated, couples were forced to live apart, and communities were unable to reunite for milestones of joy and grief. While former President Biden rescinded the bans, President Trump has signaled intent to issue a new travel ban in the coming months.
The NO BAN Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives in both 2020 and 2021. In 2021, the Biden administration issued a statement in support of the legislation, noting that the prior “bans were a stain on our national conscience and are inconsistent with our long history of welcoming people of all faiths.”
An executive order issued by President Trump on his first day of his second term requires government departments to identify over the course of 60 days nations whose migration and screening processes are “so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.” The order lays the groundwork for another ban on migration from predominantly Muslim countries.
The NO BAN Act would push back on Trump’s Muslim ban or any other travel ban by:
- Providing that the Immigration and Nationality Act nondiscrimination provisions apply to religion, as well as to the issuance of non-immigrant visas and benefits;
- Requiring that any travel restriction imposed under Immigration and Nationality Act be based on specific and credible facts, and in a way narrowly tailored to address a compelling government interest; and
- Establishing procedural requirements, including notice to Congress within 48 hours, and periodic reporting.
The NO BAN Act has received endorsements from numerous immigrants’ rights organizations, faith-based organizations, and civil rights organizations, including Care in Action, 18 Million Rising, Afghans For A Better Tomorrow, African Public Affairs Committee, America Indivisible, American Humanist Association, American Immigration Lawyers Association, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Americans for Immigrant Justice, Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, ANAR, Asian Law Caucus, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP), Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, Center for Constitutional Rights, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Church World Service, Communities United for Status & Protection (CUSP), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Emgage Action, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Global Refuge, Hindus for Human Rights, Human Rights First, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Immigrants Act Now, Interfaith Alliance, International Refugee Assistance Project, League of Conservation Voters, Muslims for Just Futures, National Council of Jewish Women, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Immigrant Justice Center, National Immigration Law Center, National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, National Partnership for New Americans, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Poligon Education Fund, Queer Crescent, Quixote Center, Refugee Council USA (RCUSA), Refugees International, Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), Social Workers for Immigration Justice, South Asian Legal Defense Fund, South Asian Public Health Association (SAPHA), The Advocates for Human Rights, The Sikh Coalition, Union for Reform Judaism, Win Without War, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, ACLU, Brennan Center for Justice, Arab American Civic Council, ASATA Power, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL), CAIR Washington, California Immigrant Policy Center, Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University, Civic Ark, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Education Law Center-PA, Estrella del Paso, Family Action Network Movement, Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), Indo-American Center, Islamic Society of Central Jersey, Malikah, Muslim Justice League, Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center, Womankind, and Concerned Christian Citizen.
“As President Trump fulfills his racist campaign promises by indefinitely blocking all vulnerable refugees and by preparing a potential resurrection of categorical bans on people who come to the U.S. from African, Muslim-majority, or other countries, we welcome the timely reintroduction of an essential policy rooted in the highest American aspirations of equality, religious freedom, and refuge from tyrannical leaders,” said Sumayyah Waheed, Senior Policy Counsel, Muslim Advocates. “With the reintroduction of the NO BAN Act, we hope to check discriminatory and cruel abuses of presidential power at our borders. We remember clearly the hate, chaos, and family separation resulting from President Trump’s first-term Muslim and African bans – effects that remain unresolved to this day. Meanwhile, people seeking safety at our borders are forced to face unlawful, dehumanizing, debilitating, and even lethal barriers to doing so. We thank Rep. Chu and Sen. Coons for their leadership and urge Members in both houses to swiftly pass this bill.”
“The first time President Trump was in the White House, as we all watched his xenophobic Muslim ban wreak havoc on families in airports and communities across the country, the ACLU took to the courts for relief. This time around, the landscape includes the Supreme Court’s decision to allow Trump’s previous ban to go into effect. We can’t sit back as Trump again seeks to inflict cruelty. The NO BAN Act is an important effort to uphold our fundamental values and ensure our laws prevent discriminatory bans from being enacted in the future,” said Naureen Shah, deputy director of government affairs with the ACLU Equality Division.
“Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban was a stain on America’s conscience and President Biden’s Executive Order rescinding the various versions of the ban was an important first step,” said Yasmine Taeb, Legislative and Political Director at MPower Change Action Fund. “During the campaign trail, Trump vowed not only to reinstate the Muslim Ban but to expand it, and has made good on that promise by previewing a travel ban on his first day back in office. To ensure our communities do not face the threat of family separation, xenophobia, and Islamophobia through the implementation of another unconstitutional and unconscionable ban by Trump, Congress needs to take action and pass the NO BAN Act. We’re grateful for the leadership of Representative Chu and Senator Coons in reintroducing the NO BAN Act and urge Congress to pass the bill swiftly.”
“Trump’s discriminatory Muslim and African bans inflicted unthinkable cruelty and separated families. The policy was met with widespread resistance, with thousands of people making their voices heard in protests at airports across the country. With Trump’s return to office, and his day-one executive order signaling another forthcoming ban, we must all do everything in our power to ensure these harmful bans do not return. We commend Senator Coons’ and Representative Chu’s leadership on this issue and call on Congress to pass the NO BAN Act today to protect communities from lasting harm,” said Raha Wala, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Advocacy at the National Immigration Law Center.
“Thousands of American families will soon be separated and America’s economic competitiveness will be damaged if President Trump reimposes the so-called travel ban. The scars of the first ban have not yet fully healed, and some who were denied entry under the first ban are staring down more than four years of separation from their families. As members of Trump’s own coalition have noted, U.S. innovation and economic strength are fueled by immigrants from Iran and other countries that will potentially be banned. It is not stable or secure or fair to American families for the U.S. to impose and repeal such policies every four years by executive fiat — Congress must act as a co-equal branch and establish guardrails that protect the rights, security, and economy for all Americans by passing the NO BAN Act,” said Jamal Abdi, President of National Iranian American Council Action.
“The reintroduction of the NO BAN Act in the 119th Congress is a crucial step in reaffirming America’s historic role as a beacon of hope and opportunity for immigrants. For generations, the United States has stood as a nation that values diversity, equity, and justice. This legislation ensures that the executive power cannot be misused to undermine these principles or to close our doors to those seeking opportunity and refuge. We extend our gratitude to Representative Judy Chu, Senator Chris Coons, and the original co-sponsors of this critical bill and urge Congress to act swiftly to pass it, preserving the ideals that have long defined and strengthened our nation,” said Wa’el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage Action.
The text of the bill is available here.
A section-by-section summary of the bill is available here.
