II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4961 

To transfer and limit Executive Branch authority to suspend or restrict 

the entry of a class of aliens. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2024 

Mr. COONS (for himself, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. 

SANDERS, Ms. STABENOW, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. KAINE, Ms. 

DUCKWORTH, Mr. KING, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. WELCH, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. PETERS, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. WARNER, Mr. LUJA ́N, Ms. 

BALDWIN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BENNET, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 

CARPER, and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To transfer and limit Executive Branch authority to suspend 

or restrict the entry of a class of aliens. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Origin-Based 

5 Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act’’ or the ‘‘NO 

6 BAN Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF NONDISCRIMINATION PROVISION. 

2 Section 202(a)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nation3 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1152(a)(1)(A)) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘Except as specifically provided 

5 in paragraph (2) and in sections 101(a)(27), 

6 201(b)(2)(A)(i), and 203, no’’ and inserting ‘‘No’’; 

7 (2) by inserting ‘‘or a nonimmigrant visa, ad8 mission or other entry into the United States, or the 

9 approval or revocation of any immigration benefit’’ 

10 after ‘‘immigrant visa’’; 

11 (3) by inserting ‘‘religion,’’ after ‘‘sex,’’; and 

12 (4) by inserting before the period at the end the 

13 following: ‘‘, except as specifically provided in para14 graph (2) and sections 101(a)(27), 201(b)(2)(A)(i), 

15 and 203, if otherwise expressly required by statute, 

16 or if a statutorily authorized benefit takes into con17 sideration such factors’’. 

18 SEC. 3. TRANSFER AND LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORITY TO 

19 SUSPEND OR RESTRICT THE ENTRY OF A 

20 CLASS OF ALIENS. 

21 Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality 

22 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)) is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(f) AUTHORITY TO SUSPEND OR RESTRICT THE

24 ENTRY OF A CLASS OF ALIENS.— 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

26 if the Secretary of State, in consultation with the 


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1 Secretary of Homeland Security, determines, based 

2 on specific and credible facts, that the entry of any 

3 aliens or class of aliens into the United States would 

4 undermine the security or public safety of the 

5 United States or the preservation of human rights, 

6 democratic processes or institutions, or international 

7 stability, the President may temporarily— 

8 ‘‘(A) suspend the entry of such aliens or 

9 class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants; 

10 or 

11 ‘‘(B) impose any restrictions on the entry 

12 of such aliens that the President deems appro13 priate. 

14 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—In carrying out paragraph 

15 (1), the President, the Secretary of State, and the 

16 Secretary of Homeland Security shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) only issue a suspension or restriction 

18 when required to address specific acts impli19 cating a compelling government interest in a 

20 factor identified under paragraph (1); 

21 ‘‘(B) narrowly tailor such suspension or re22 striction, using the least restrictive means, to 

23 achieve such compelling government interest; 

24 ‘‘(C) specify the duration of such suspen25 sion or restriction; 


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1 ‘‘(D) consider waivers to any class-based 

2 restriction or suspension and apply a rebuttable 

3 presumption in favor of granting family-based 

4 and humanitarian waivers; and 

5 ‘‘(E) comply with all provisions of this Act. 

6 ‘‘(3) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Before the President 

8 may exercise the authority under paragraph 

9 (1), the Secretary of State and the Secretary of 

10 Homeland Security shall consult with Congress 

11 and provide Congress with specific evidence 

12 supporting the need for the proposed suspen13 sion or restriction and its proposed duration. 

14 ‘‘(B) BRIEFING AND REPORT.—Not later 

15 than 48 hours after the President exercises the 

16 authority under paragraph (1), the Secretary of 

17 State and the Secretary of Homeland Security 

18 shall provide a briefing and submit a written re19 port to Congress that describes— 

20 ‘‘(i) the action taken pursuant to 

21 paragraph (1) and the specified objective 

22 of such action; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the estimated number of individ24 uals who will be impacted by such action; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the constitutional and legislative 

2 authority under which such action took 

3 place; and 

4 ‘‘(iv) the circumstances necessitating 

5 such action, including how such action 

6 complies with paragraph (2) and any intel7 ligence informing such actions. 

8 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION.—If the briefing and 

9 report described in subparagraph (B) are not 

10 provided to Congress during the 48 hour period 

11 beginning when the President exercises the au12 thority under paragraph (1), the suspension or 

13 restriction shall immediately terminate absent 

14 intervening congressional action. 

15 ‘‘(D) DEFINED TERM.—In this paragraph, 

16 the term ‘Congress’ means— 

17 ‘‘(i) the Select Committee on Intel18 ligence of the Senate; 

19 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Foreign Rela20 tions of the Senate; 

21 ‘‘(iii) the Committee on the Judiciary 

22 of the Senate; 

23 ‘‘(iv) the Committee on Homeland Se24 curity and Governmental Affairs of the 

25 Senate; 


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1 ‘‘(v) the Permanent Select Committee 

2 on Intelligence of the House of Represent3 atives; 

4 ‘‘(vi) the Committee on Foreign Af5 fairs of the House of Representatives; 

6 ‘‘(vii) the Committee on the Judiciary 

7 of the House of Representatives; and 

8 ‘‘(viii) the Committee on Homeland 

9 Security of the House of Representatives. 

10 ‘‘(4) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary of State 

11 and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall pub12 licly announce and publish an unclassified version of 

13 the report described in paragraph (3)(B) in the Fed14 eral Register. 

15 ‘‘(5) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

17 other provision of law, an individual or entity 

18 who is present in the United States and has 

19 been harmed by a violation of this subsection 

20 may file an action in an appropriate district 

21 court of the United States to seek declaratory 

22 or injunctive relief. 

23 ‘‘(B) CLASS ACTION.—Nothing in this Act 

24 may be construed to preclude an action filed 


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1 pursuant to subparagraph (A) from proceeding 

2 as a class action. 

3 ‘‘(6) TREATMENT OF COMMERCIAL AIRLINES.— 

4 Whenever the Secretary of Homeland Security deter5 mines that a commercial airline has failed to comply 

6 with regulations of the Secretary of Homeland Secu7 rity relating to requirements of airlines for the de8 tection of fraudulent documents used by passengers 

9 traveling to the United States (including the train10 ing of personnel in such detection), the Secretary of 

11 Homeland Security may suspend the entry of some 

12 or all aliens transported to the United States by 

13 such airline. 

14 ‘‘(7) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

15 this subsection may be construed as authorizing the 

16 President, the Secretary of State, or the Secretary 

17 of Homeland Security to act in a manner incon18 sistent with the policy decisions expressed in the im19 migration laws.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. VISA APPLICANTS REPORT. 

21 (a) INITIAL REPORTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

23 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

24 of State, in coordination with the Secretary of 

25 Homeland Security and the heads of other relevant 


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1 Federal agencies, shall submit a report to the con2 gressional committees referred to in section 

3 212(f)(3)(D) of the Immigration and Nationality 

4 Act, as amended by section 3, that describes the im5 plementation of Presidential Proclamations 9645, 

6 9822, and 9983 and Executive Order Nos. 13769, 

7 13780, and 13815, during the effective period of 

8 each such proclamation and order. 

9 (2) PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATIONS 9645 AND

10 9983.—In addition to the content described in para11 graph (1), the report submitted with respect to Pres12 idential Proclamation 9645, issued on September 24, 

13 2017, and Presidential Proclamation 9983, issued 

14 on January 31, 2020, shall include, for each country 

15 listed in such proclamation— 

16 (A) the total number of individuals who 

17 applied for a visa during the period the procla18 mation was in effect, disaggregated by country 

19 and visa category; 

20 (B) the total number of visa applicants de21 scribed in subparagraph (A) who were ap22 proved, disaggregated by country and visa cat23 egory; 

24 (C) the total number of visa applicants de25 scribed in subparagraph (A) whose applications 


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1 were denied, disaggregated by country and visa 

2 category, and the reasons for such denials; 

3 (D) the total number of visa applicants de4 scribed in subparagraph (A) whose applications 

5 remain pending, disaggregated by country and 

6 visa category; 

7 (E) the total number of visa applicants de8 scribed in subparagraph (A) who were granted 

9 a waiver, disaggregated by country and visa 

10 category; 

11 (F) the total number of visa applicants de12 scribed in subparagraph (A) who were denied a 

13 waiver, disaggregated by country and visa cat14 egory, and the reasons such waiver requests 

15 were denied; 

16 (G) the total number of refugees admitted, 

17 disaggregated by country; and 

18 (H) the complete reports that were sub19 mitted to the President every 180 days in ac20 cordance with section 4 of Presidential Procla21 mation 9645 in its original form, and as 

22 amended by Presidential Proclamation 9983. 

23 (b) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

25 the date on which the President exercises the auVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:55 Aug 31, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4961.IS S4961

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1 thority under section 212(f) of the Immigration and 

2 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)), as amended by 

3 section 3, and every 30 days thereafter, the Sec4 retary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security and heads of other relevant Fed6 eral agencies, shall submit a report to the congres7 sional committees referred to in paragraph (3)(D) of 

8 such section 212(f) that identifies, with respect to 

9 countries affected by a suspension or restriction— 

10 (A) the information described in subpara11 graphs (A) through (G) of subsection (a)(2); 

12 and 

13 (B) the specific evidence supporting the 

14 need for the continued exercise of presidential 

15 authority under such section 212(f), including 

16 the information described in paragraph (3)(B) 

17 of such section 212(f). 

18 (2) FAILURE TO SUBMIT TIMELY REPORT.—If 

19 the Secretary of State fails to provide any report re20 quired under paragraph (1) to the appropriate con21 gressional committees by the specified deadline, the 

22 suspension or restriction of any aliens or class of 

23 aliens pursuant to such section 212(f) shall imme24 diately terminate absent intervening congressional 

25 action. 


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1 (3) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 30 days 

2 after the termination of a suspension or restriction 

3 of any aliens or class of aliens pursuant to such sec4 tion 212(f), the Secretary of State, in coordination 

5 with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the 

6 heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall pre7 pare and submit a final report to the congressional 

8 committees referred to in paragraph (3)(D) of such 

9 section containing the information and evidence de10 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph 

11 (1). 

12 (c) FORM; AVAILABILITY.—The reports required 

13 under subsections (a) and (b) shall be made publicly avail14 able online in unclassified form. 

Æ 


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