(1) Present-day South Africa was colonized by 
English and Dutch settlers beginning in the 17th 
century. In 1909, the English and Dutch formed the 
Union of South Africa, a settler government that 
marginalized the African population and imposed 
harsh taxes on every nonwhite person, forcing non-
whites into a cruel wage-labor system that under-
mined the cohesion of their societies. 
(2) The African National Congress (ANC) was 
created in 1912 to advocate for the rights of black 
South Africans. 
(3) In 1948, the Afrikaner Nationalist Party 
took control of the government and imposed the 
apartheid system, a harsh system of racial segrega-
tion, white economic privilege, and total disenfran-
chisement of non-white African inhabitants. 
(4) The ANC joined with other groups and en-
gaged in mass civil disobedience against apartheid in 
the 1940s and 1950s. 
(5) The ANC was banned in 1960 by the South 
African Government, and the ANC leadership was 
forced to go underground or into exile. 
(6) 
In 
1964, 
Nelson 
Mandela, 
Ahmed 
Kathrada, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Andrew 
Mlangeni, Raymond Mhlaba, Elias Motsoaledi, and 
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Denis Goldberg were convicted and imprisoned for 
life for their leadership in opposing apartheid. 
(7) Although it was outlawed, the ANC led the 
resistance effort against apartheid in the late 1970s 
and 1980s. During this time, the ANC was classified 
as a terrorist organization by the apartheid South 
African Government and many western countries. 
(8) The South African ban on the ANC was 
lifted in 1990, and Nelson Mandela was released 
from prison on February 11, 1990. 
(9) Between 1990 and 1994, the ANC nego-
tiated with the South African Government for black 
enfranchisement and an end to apartheid, the results 
of which were the birth of a multiracial, multiparty 
democracy in South Africa. 
(10) The ANC became a registered political 
party in 1994. Winning more than 60 percent of the 
presidential vote, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated 
as president on May 10, 1994. 
(11) In 2002, Tokyo Sexwale, former premier 
of Gauteng Province and chairman of the ANC, was 
refused a visa to enter the United States on the 
basis that he, along with other prominent South Af-
rican anti-apartheid figures such as Nelson Mandela 
and Sidney Mufamadi, were still considered to be in-
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admissible to the United States based on section 212 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1182). 
(12) In 2007, Barbara Masekela, former South 
African Ambassador to the United States from 2003 
to 2006, was denied a visa to enter the United 
States to visit her ill cousin due to her membership 
in the African National Congress, and she was un-
able to obtain a waiver before her cousin’s death. 
(13) The ANC-led Government of South Africa 
is a strategic partner with the United States in the 
fight against terrorism and has adopted concrete 
counterterrorism policies and measures, including in-
formation exchange, law enforcement cooperation, 
and anti-money laundering to deny terrorists a 
haven in South Africa. 
(14) In the past, the Department of State pro-
vided waivers to ANC leaders to enter the United 
States, but this remedy is not appropriate for ANC 
leaders such as Mr. Mandela. 
SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF CERTAIN AFFECTED INDIVIDUALS 
FROM CERTAIN UNITED STATES GOVERN-
MENT DATABASES. 
The Secretary of State, in coordination with the At-
torney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 
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Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the 
Director of National Intelligence, shall take all necessary 
steps to ensure that databases used to determine admissi-
bility to the United States are updated so that they are 
consistent with the exemptions required under section 4. 
SEC. 3. EXEMPTION OF AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS 
FROM TREATMENT AS TERRORIST ORGANI-
ZATION FOR CERTAIN ACTS OR EVENTS. 
(a) 
IN
GENERAL.—For 
purposes 
of 
section 
212(a)(3)(B)(vi) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(B)(vi)), the African National Con-
gress shall not be treated as a terrorist organization on 
the basis of any act or event occurring on or before the 
date of the enactment of this Act. 
(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion may be construed to alter or limit the authority of 
the Secretary of State or Secretary of Homeland Security 
to exercise discretionary authority pursuant to section 
212(d)(3)(B)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(3)(B)(i)). 
SEC. 4. RELIEF FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE AFRICAN 
NATIONAL CONGRESS REGARDING ADMISSI-
BILITY. 
(a) IN
GENERAL.—For purposes of paragraphs 
(2)(A), (2)(B), and (3)(B) of section 212(a) of the Immi-
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gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)), present 
and former members of the African National Congress 
shall not be determined to be inadmissible on the basis 
of— 
(1) their membership in or affiliation with such 
organization; or 
(2) anti-apartheid activities undertaken during 
the period of apartheid rule in South Africa during 
the period from 1948 to 1990. 
(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub-
section may be construed to alter or limit the authority 
of the Secretary of State or Secretary of Homeland Secu-
rity to exercise discretionary authority pursuant to section 
212(d)(3)(B)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(3)(B)(i)). 
Æ 
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