II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1123 

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 

APRIL 10, 2019 

Mr. COONS (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. WARREN, 

Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. 

BOOKER, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. KAINE, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. 

HIRONO, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. BENNET, Mr. SANDERS, 

Mr. CARPER, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. BROWN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. 

MURPHY, Ms. SMITH, Mr. CASEY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. HASSAN, and 

Mr. PETERS) 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 inserting ‘‘or a nonimmigrant visa, entry 

5 into the United States, or the approval or revocation 

6 of any immigration benefit’’ after ‘‘immigrant visa’’; 

7 (2) by inserting ‘‘religion,’’ after ‘‘sex,’’; and 

8 (3) by inserting ‘‘, except if expressly required 

9 by statute, or if a statutorily authorized benefit 

10 takes into consideration such factors’’ before the pe11 riod at the end. 

12 SEC. 3. TRANSFER AND LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORITY TO 

13 SUSPEND OR RESTRICT THE ENTRY OF A 

14 CLASS OF ALIENS. 

15 Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality 

16 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)) is amended— 

17 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking ‘‘BY

18 PRESIDENT’’; and 

19 (2) by striking ‘‘Whenever the President’’ and 

20 all that follows through ‘‘appropriate.’’ and inserting 

21 the following: 

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

23 if the Secretary of State, after consultation with the 

24 Secretary of Homeland Security, determines, based 

25 on credible facts, that the entry of any aliens or of 

26 any class of aliens into the United States should be 


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1 suspended or restricted to address specific acts that 

2 undermine the security or public safety of the 

3 United States; human rights; democratic processes 

4 or institutions; or international stability, the Presi5 dent may temporarily— 

6 ‘‘(A) suspend the entry of any aliens or 

7 any class of aliens as immigrants or non8 immigrants; or 

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

10 of aliens that the President considers to be ap11 propriate. 

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

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

14 Secretary of Homeland Security— 

15 ‘‘(A) shall provide specific evidence sup16 porting the determination; 

17 ‘‘(B) shall comply with all provisions of 

18 this Act, including section 202(a)(1)(A); 

19 ‘‘(C) shall narrowly tailor the suspension 

20 or restriction to meet a compelling govern21 mental interest; 

22 ‘‘(D) shall specify the duration of the sus23 pension or restriction and set forth evidence 

24 justifying such duration; 


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1 ‘‘(E) shall use the least restrictive means 

2 possible to achieve the specified governmental 

3 interest; and 

4 ‘‘(F) shall consider waivers to any class5 based restriction or suspension and apply a re6 buttable presumption in favor of granting fam7 ily-based and humanitarian waivers. 

8 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—The President, the Sec9 retary of State, and the Secretary of Homeland Se10 curity shall consult with Congress before exercising 

11 the authority under paragraph (1). 

12 ‘‘(4) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Not 

13 later than 48 hours after the President exercises the 

14 authority under paragraph (1), the Secretary of 

15 State and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

16 provide a briefing and submit a written report to the 

17 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, the 

18 Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, the Com19 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af20 fairs of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Af21 fairs of the House of Representatives, the Com22 mittee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa23 tives, and the Committee on Homeland Security of 

24 the House of Representatives that describes— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the actions taken pursuant to para2 graph (1) and the number of individuals to 

3 which such actions apply; 

4 ‘‘(B) the constitutional and legislative au5 thority under which such actions took place; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(C) the circumstances necessitating the 

8 actions taken pursuant to paragraph (1), in9 cluding how such actions comply with the limi10 tations described in paragraph (2). 

11 ‘‘(5) PERIODIC REPORTING.—If the briefing re12 quired under paragraph (4) is not provided by the 

13 Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland 

14 Security within 48 hours after exercising the author15 ity under paragraph (1), and updated every 30 days 

16 thereafter, such emergency suspension or action 

17 shall immediately terminate absent intervening con18 gressional action. 

19 ‘‘(6) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary of State 

20 and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall pub21 licly announce and publish in the Federal Register— 

22 ‘‘(A) the nature of the actions taken pur23 suant to paragraph (1); 

24 ‘‘(B) the estimated number of individuals 

25 impacted by such actions; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the specified objective of each such 

2 action; and 

3 ‘‘(D) the circumstances necessitating such 

4 actions. 

5 ‘‘(7) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

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

7 other provision of law, an individual or entity 

8 who is present in the United States and has 

9 been harmed by a violation of this subsection 

10 may file an action in an appropriate district 

11 court of the United States to seek declaratory 

12 or injunctive relief. 

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

14 may be construed to preclude an action filed 

15 pursuant to subparagraph (A) from proceeding 

16 as a class action. 

17 ‘‘(8)’’. 

18 SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF CERTAIN EXECUTIVE ACTIONS. 

19 (a) TERMINATION.—Presidential Proclamations 9645 

20 and 9822 and Executive Orders 13769, 13780, and 13815 

21 shall be void beginning on the date of the enactment of 

22 this Act. 

23 (b) EFFECT.—All actions made pursuant to any proc24 lamation or executive order terminated under subsection 

25 (a) shall cease on the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 5. VISA APPLICANTS REPORT. 

2 (a) INITIAL REPORTS.—Not later than 90 days after 

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

4 State, in coordination with the relevant heads of other 

5 Federal agencies, shall submit a report to the appropriate 

6 congressional committees that describes the implementa7 tion of each of the presidential proclamations and execu8 tive orders referred to in section 4. The report submitted 

9 with respect to Presidential Proclamation 9645 (‘‘Presi10 dential Proclamation Enhancing Vetting Capabilities and 

11 Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry Into the United 

12 States by Terrorists or Other Public-Safety Threats’’), 

13 issued on September 24, 2017, should include, for each 

14 country listed in Presidential Proclamation 9645 or in any 

15 subsequent amendment to such proclamation— 

16 (1) the total number of new visa applicants, 

17 disaggregated by country and visa category; 

18 (2) the total number of visa applicants ap19 proved, disaggregated by country and visa category; 

20 (3) the total number of visa applicants rejected, 

21 disaggregated by country and visa category, and the 

22 reasons they were rejected; 

23 (4) the total number of pending visa applicants, 

24 disaggregated by country and visa category; 


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1 (5) the total number of visa applicants granted 

2 a waiver, disaggregated by country and visa cat3 egory; 

4 (6) the total number of visa applicants denied 

5 a waiver under such section, disaggregated by coun6 try and visa category, and the reasons such waiver 

7 requests were denied; 

8 (7) the total number of refugees admitted, 

9 disaggregated by country; and 

10 (8) the complete reports that have been sub11 mitted to the President every 180 days in accord12 ance with section 4 of Presidential Proclamation 

13 9645. 

14 (b) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.—Not later than 30 days 

15 after the President exercises authority under section 

16 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amend17 ed by section 3, and every 30 days thereafter, the Sec18 retary of State, in coordination with the heads of other 

19 relevant Federal agencies, shall submit a report to the ap20 propriate congressional committees that identifies, with 

21 respect to visa applications affected by a suspension or 

22 restriction authorized under such subsection, the informa23 tion described in paragraphs (1) through (7) of subsection 

24 (a). 


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

2 under subsections (a) and (b)— 

3 (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form; and 

4 (2) shall be made publicly available online. 

Æ 


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