WASHINGTON – Muslim Advocates celebrates the reintroduction of the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (“NO BAN”) Act. The bills, reintroduced by Representative Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), would close loopholes in immigration law to prevent future presidents from enacting another Muslim and Africa Ban or similar, discriminatory bans. Muslim Advocates has worked with members of Congress, impacted families, and partner organizations with the No Muslim Ban Ever coalition for years to support the bill. The following is a statement from Muslim Advocates Senior Policy Counsel Sumayyah Waheed:

“We welcome the reintroduction of a policy rooted in the highest American aspirations of equality, religious freedom, and refuge from tyrannical leaders. We remember clearly the hate, chaos, and devastating family separation resulting from former President Trump’s Muslim & Africa Bans–effects that remain unresolved to this day. Every day, people seeking safety at our borders are forced to face unlawful, dehumanizing, debilitating, and even lethal barriers to doing so. With the reintroduction of the NO BAN Act, we hope to check discriminatory and cruel abuses of presidential power at our borders. We urge Members in both houses to swiftly pass this bill.”

Click here to read the full press release from Senator Coons

Click here to read the full press release from Senator Judy Chu

The bill would:

• Provide that the Immigration and Nationality Act nondiscrimination provisions apply to religion, as well as to the issuance of non-immigrant visas and benefits;
• Require 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
• Establish procedural requirements, including notice to Congress within 48 hours, and periodic reporting.

The NO BAN Act was originally introduced by Senator Coons and Congresswoman Chu in 2019. The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives in both 2020 and 2021. In 2021, the Biden-Harris 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.”

The NO BAN Act has received endorsements from numerous immigrants’ rights organizations, faith-based organizations, and civil rights organizations, including Muslim Advocates, the MPower Change Action Fund, National Immigration Law Center, American Civil Liberties Union, National Iranian American Council, Emgage Action, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, Union for Reform Judaism, National Partnership for New Americans, Quixote Center, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, The Advocates for Human Rights, America Indivisible, Lawyers for Good Government, African Communities Together, Acacia Center for Justice, Alianza Americas, Win Without War, Chispa, League of Conservation Voters, Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, Project ANAR, Immigrants Act Now, Global Refuge, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Church World Service, American Humanist Association & Center for Freethought Equality, Muslim Public Affairs Council, Brennan Center for Justice, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Estrella del Paso (formerly Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services Inc.), Americans for Immigrant Justice, GALEO Impact Fund, Immigrant Defenders Law Center, Qodiva, and the California Immigrant Policy Center.