I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 590 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide that an alien 
may not be denied admission or entry to the United States, or other 
immigration benefits, because of the aliens religion, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 16, 2019 
Mr. BEYER (for himself, Ms. NORTON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, 
Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. OMAR, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. 
NADLER, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. POCAN, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs. 
CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. 
KENNEDY, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. COHEN, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, 
Mr. MCEACHIN, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. CON-
NOLLY, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. 
CARTWRIGHT, 
Mr. 
RYAN, 
Mr. 
SERRANO, 
Mr. 
LANGEVIN, 
Mr. 
GARAMENDI, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. KILMER, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. COURTNEY, 
Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. KEATING, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. 
BONAMICI, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. PALLONE, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. 
SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. SMITH of 
Washington, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. SIRES, Ms. TITUS, Mr. WELCH, Mr. 
DANNY
K. DAVIS
of Illinois, Mr. SWALWELL
of California, Mr. 
LOWENTHAL, Mr. KIND, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. SAR-
BANES, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. HECK, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, 
Mr. SOTO, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. FOSTER, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. 
BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. MOORE, Mr. 
QUIGLEY, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. SUOZZI, Mrs. 
HAYES, Mr. CORREA, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Ms. WEXTON, Mr. RUSH, 
Mr. KILDEE, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. ROSE of New York, Ms. 
SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. TONKO, Ms. MENG, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. MAT-
SUI, Ms. HILL of California, Mr. COSTA, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mrs. NAPOLI-
TANO, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. NORCROSS, 
Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. 
HIGGINS of New York, Ms. SHALALA, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. TED LIEU of 
California, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. OCASIO- 
CORTEZ, Mr. HIMES, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. MICHAEL F. 
DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CRIST, Mr. SCHNEIDER, 
Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. LAMB, Ms. LEE of Cali-
fornia, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. MEEKS, Mrs. 
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DEMINGS, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. LAWSON of 
Florida, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. LEWIS, and Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary 
A BILL 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide 
that an alien may not be denied admission or entry 
to the United States, or other immigration benefits, be-
cause of the aliens religion, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom of Religion 
Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON DENYING ADMISSION, ENTRY, OR 
OTHER BENEFIT BECAUSE OF RELIGION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title I of the Immi-
gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1181 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 219 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 220. PROHIBITION ON DENYING ADMISSION, ENTRY, 
OR OTHER BENEFIT BECAUSE OF RELIGION. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro-
vision of the immigration laws, an alien may not be denied 
entry, reentry, or admission to the United States, or any 
other immigration benefit, because of the alien’s religion 
or lack of religious beliefs. 
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‘‘(b) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in subsection (a) 
shall be construed to affect the authorities under section 
212(f), subsections (h) and (i) of section 221, or any other 
provision of the immigration laws, when exercised on a 
case-by-case basis with respect to an individual who a con-
sular officer, an immigration officer, the Attorney General, 
the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Secu-
rity, or the President determines may pose a threat to 
United States national security interests.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
for the Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 219 the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘Sec. 220. Prohibition on denying admission, entry, or other benefit because of 
religion.’’. 
Æ 
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