WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-Calif.) reintroduced the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act, legislation that prevents future Muslim bans by strengthening the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion and by ensuring that any use of the authority to suspend entry into the country is narrowly tailored and follows appropriate consultation with Congress.

As a candidate for president in 2016, Donald Trump promised to ban all Muslims from the United States. Upon taking office, he tried to make good on that promise and enacted bans that were repeatedly struck down by the courts until the conservative majority of the Supreme Court ultimately upheld a version of the ban by a 5-4 vote. As a result of the bans, countless married couples could not live together, parents could not live with their children, and families could not gather to celebrate or grieve. While President Biden reversed these bans, the threat of restoring such legislation looms. This bill ensures that such discriminatory actions are not possible in the future.

“Former President Trump’s Muslim ban was cruel and counterproductive,” said Senator Coons. “It tore apart families; led to the detention of people 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. We must ensure that this senseless policy is never repeated and that no elected official acts on fear and prejudice to discriminate based on religion or nationality. That is why I’m reintroducing the NO BAN Act to prevent future discriminatory travel bans and make sure our nation lives up to its highest ideals.”

“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,” said Congresswoman Chu. “I was so grateful when the Biden-Harris administration took action on its first day to rescind all versions of this ban, but we can’t risk letting prejudice against Muslims, or any other religious minority, become policy once again. I am joining Senator Coons and my Democratic colleagues to once again introduce the NO BAN Act to update our laws, make certain future presidents cannot ban people solely because of their religion, and require evidence of national security threats to exist before broad-based travel bans are implemented. I urge our Republican colleagues to respect religious liberty and join us in sending this legislation to President Biden’s desk for his signature.”

“We welcome the reintroduction of a policy rooted in the highest American aspirations of equality, religious freedom, and refuge from tyrannical leaders,” said Sumayyah Waheed, Senior Policy Counsel, Muslim Advocates. “We remember clearly the hate, chaos, and devastating family separation resulting from former President Trump’s Muslim and 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.”

“The Muslim ban was a stain on America’s conscience and President Biden’s executive order rescinding all the various versions of the ban was an important first step,” said Yasmine Taeb, Legislative and Political Director, MPower Change Action Fund. “To ensure our communities do not face the threat of family separation and Islamophobia through the implementation of another discriminatory ban by a future president, Congress needs to pass the NO BAN Act. We’re grateful for the leadership of Representative Chu and Senator Coons and urge Congress to pass the bill immediately.”

“We celebrate Representative Chu and Senator Coons’ persistent leadership in reintroducing the NO BAN Act,” said Raha Wala, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Advocacy, National Immigration Law Center. “No president should have the overreaching authority to pass discriminatory bans based on religion or national origin, like that of the Muslim and African bans, ever again. We urge Congress to swiftly pass this bill and send it to President Biden to be signed into law.”

“The Muslim Ban is a stain on our nation’s history and was a cruel betrayal of our values and moral obligations,” said Naureen Shah, Deputy Director of Government Affairs and Policy for Immigration, American Civil Liberties Union. “We welcome the reintroduction of the NO BAN Act, and urge Congress to pass this critical legislation. Xenophobia and anti-Muslim hate have no place in our country, and it’s time our laws reflect that.”

“The fight against the Muslim ban is not over, and we are thankful that Representative Judy Chu, Senator Chris Coons, and many of their colleagues are reintroducing the NO BAN Act to safeguard communities that would be targeted if Donald Trump is reelected and follows through on his promise to reimpose and expand the Muslim ban,” said Ryan Costello, Policy Director, National Iranian American Council. “We urge Congress to pass it without delay. There are longstanding ties between the people of Iran and the United States that were painfully severed when Trump imposed his ban, impacting countless students who sought to pursue an education in the United States, families intent on reuniting, and others eager to pursue the American dream. The NO BAN Act is vital to ensure proper oversight of the president’s immigration authorities and to enable Congress to step in if Trump or any other president once again seeks to arbitrarily deny visas to anyone on the basis of their national origin or religion.”

“It has been three years since the Muslim ban was ended by a presidential proclamation,” said Wa’el Alzayat, CEO, Emgage Action. “The ban tore families apart, fostered divisive rhetoric against Muslims, and inflicted lasting damage on communities of color around the globe. We are grateful for the leadership of Representative Judy Chu and Senator Chris Coons in reintroducing the NO BAN Act. Passing this critical bill is essential to ensure that no future president can institute such a ban. We urge Congress to act and prevent any future administration from abusing executive power in this manner.”

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.

The NO BAN Act is cosponsored in the Senate by Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Angus King (I-Maine), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.).

The text of the bill is available here.

A section-by-section summary of the bill is available here.