The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday, which would prevent any future US president from imposing travel bans on the basis of religion.
The bill, titled the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act, comes in response to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial “Muslim ban” which barred travel to the US from several Muslim-majority countries.
Hence, the Act would clearly prohibit religious discrimination in immigration-related decisions.
Furthermore, the State Department and Department of Homeland Security would have to consult with Congress and provide specific evidence justifying the immigration restriction in addition to its proposed duration before imposing it.
"We must make sure no president is ever able to ban people from coming to the U.S. simply because of their religion," said Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), the bill's author and chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.
The House approved the bill by a 218-208 vote, as well as a legislation by a 217-207 vote in order to ensure that citizens and other people with legal status, detained at U.S. ports of entry, can consult with an attorney to help acknowledge their rights.
"It is the president in whom all executive power vests, who should determine whether to suspend entry and not just in consultation, with the permission, with State and Homeland Security," Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) indicated.
In 2017, Trump signed an executive order that limited visas from several predominantly Muslim countries.
The travel ban included five countries with majority-Muslim populations; Iran, Syria, Yemen, Libya and Somalia, as well as North Korea and Venezuela before the Supreme Court upheld it in 2018.
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