Title: NO BAN Act
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act or the NO BAN Act
This bill imposes limitations on the President's authority to suspend or restrict aliens from entering the United States and terminates certain presidential actions implementing such restrictions. It also prohibits religious discrimination in various immigration-related decisions, such as whether to issue an immigrant or non-immigrant visa, with certain exceptions.
The President may temporarily restrict the entry of any aliens or class of aliens after the Department of State determines that the restriction would address specific acts that threaten U.S. interests such as security or public safety.
The bill also imposes limitations on such restrictions, such as requiring the President, State Department, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide specific evidence of a need for the restriction, and to narrowly tailor the restriction to meet a compelling government interest.
Before imposing a restriction, the President, State Department, and DHS shall consult with Congress. The State Department and DHS shall report to Congress about the restriction within 48 hours of the restriction's imposition, with regular updates. If such reports are not made, the restriction shall immediately terminate.




[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1123 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Origin-Based 
Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act'' or the ``NO BAN Act''.

SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF NONDISCRIMINATION PROVISION.

    Section 202(a)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1152(a)(1)(A)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``or a nonimmigrant visa, entry into the 
        United States, or the approval or revocation of any immigration 
        benefit'' after ``immigrant visa'';
            (2) by inserting ``religion,'' after ``sex,''; and
            (3) by inserting ``, except if expressly required by 
        statute, or if a statutorily authorized benefit takes into 
        consideration such factors'' before the period at the end.

SEC. 3. TRANSFER AND LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORITY TO SUSPEND OR RESTRICT 
              THE ENTRY OF A CLASS OF ALIENS.

    Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1182(f)) is amended--
            (1) in the subsection heading, by striking ``by 
        President''; and
            (2) by striking ``Whenever the President'' and all that 
        follows through ``appropriate.'' and inserting the following:
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), if the 
        Secretary of State, after consultation with the Secretary of 
        Homeland Security, determines, based on credible facts, that 
        the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the 
        United States should be suspended or restricted to address 
        specific acts that undermine the security or public safety of 
        the United States; human rights; democratic processes or 
        institutions; or international stability, the President may 
        temporarily--
                    ``(A) suspend the entry of any aliens or any class 
                of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants; or
                    ``(B) impose any restrictions on the entry of 
                aliens that the President considers to be appropriate.
            ``(2) Limitations.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the 
        President, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of 
        Homeland Security--
                    ``(A) shall provide specific evidence supporting 
                the determination;
                    ``(B) shall comply with all provisions of this Act, 
                including section 202(a)(1)(A);
                    ``(C) shall narrowly tailor the suspension or 
                restriction to meet a compelling governmental interest;
                    ``(D) shall specify the duration of the suspension 
                or restriction and set forth evidence justifying such 
                duration;
                    ``(E) shall use the least restrictive means 
                possible to achieve the specified governmental 
                interest; and
                    ``(F) shall consider waivers to any class-based 
                restriction or suspension and apply a rebuttable 
                presumption in favor of granting family-based and 
                humanitarian waivers.
            ``(3) Consultation.--The President, the Secretary of State, 
        and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall consult with 
        Congress before exercising the authority under paragraph (1).
            ``(4) Congressional notification.--Not later than 48 hours 
        after the President exercises the authority under paragraph 
        (1), the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland 
        Security shall provide a briefing and submit a written report 
        to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, the 
        Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, the Committee on 
        Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the 
        Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, 
        the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, 
        and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
        Representatives that describes--
                    ``(A) the actions taken pursuant to paragraph (1) 
                and the number of individuals to which such actions 
                apply;
                    ``(B) the constitutional and legislative authority 
                under which such actions took place; and
                    ``(C) the circumstances necessitating the actions 
                taken pursuant to paragraph (1), including how such 
                actions comply with the limitations described in 
                paragraph (2).
            ``(5) Periodic reporting.--If the briefing required under 
        paragraph (4) is not provided by the Secretary of State and the 
        Secretary of Homeland Security within 48 hours after exercising 
        the authority under paragraph (1), and updated every 30 days 
        thereafter, such emergency suspension or action shall 
        immediately terminate absent intervening congressional action.
            ``(6) Publication.--The Secretary of State and the 
        Secretary of Homeland Security shall publicly announce and 
        publish in the Federal Register--
                    ``(A) the nature of the actions taken pursuant to 
                paragraph (1);
                    ``(B) the estimated number of individuals impacted 
                by such actions;
                    ``(C) the specified objective of each such action; 
                and
                    ``(D) the circumstances necessitating such actions.
            ``(7) Judicial review.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of law, an individual or entity who is 
                present in the United States and has been harmed by a 
                violation of this subsection may file an action in an 
                appropriate district court of the United States to seek 
                declaratory or injunctive relief.
                    ``(B) Class action.--Nothing in this Act may be 
                construed to preclude an action filed pursuant to 
                subparagraph (A) from proceeding as a class action.
            ``(8)''.

SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF CERTAIN EXECUTIVE ACTIONS.

    (a) Termination.--Presidential Proclamations 9645 and 9822 and 
Executive Orders 13769, 13780, and 13815 shall be void beginning on the 
date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Effect.--All actions made pursuant to any proclamation or 
executive order terminated under subsection (a) shall cease on the date 
of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. VISA APPLICANTS REPORT.

    (a) Initial Reports.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the 
relevant heads of other Federal agencies, shall submit a report to the 
appropriate congressional committees that describes the implementation 
of each of the presidential proclamations and executive orders referred 
to in section 4. The report submitted with respect to Presidential 
Proclamation 9645 (``Presidential Proclamation Enhancing Vetting 
Capabilities and Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry Into the 
United States by Terrorists or Other Public-Safety Threats''), issued 
on September 24, 2017, should include, for each country listed in 
Presidential Proclamation 9645 or in any subsequent amendment to such 
proclamation--
            (1) the total number of new visa applicants, disaggregated 
        by country and visa category;
            (2) the total number of visa applicants approved, 
        disaggregated by country and visa category;
            (3) the total number of visa applicants rejected, 
        disaggregated by country and visa category, and the reasons 
        they were rejected;
            (4) the total number of pending visa applicants, 
        disaggregated by country and visa category;
            (5) the total number of visa applicants granted a waiver, 
        disaggregated by country and visa category;
            (6) the total number of visa applicants denied a waiver 
        under such section, disaggregated by country and visa category, 
        and the reasons such waiver requests were denied;
            (7) the total number of refugees admitted, disaggregated by 
        country; and
            (8) the complete reports that have been submitted to the 
        President every 180 days in accordance with section 4 of 
        Presidential Proclamation 9645.
    (b) Additional Reports.--Not later than 30 days after the President 
exercises authority under section 212(f) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act, as amended by section 3, and every 30 days thereafter, 
the Secretary of State, in coordination with the heads of other 
relevant Federal agencies, shall submit a report to the appropriate 
congressional committees that identifies, with respect to visa 
applications affected by a suspension or restriction authorized under 
such subsection, the information described in paragraphs (1) through 
(7) of subsection (a).
    (c) Form; Availability.--The reports required under subsections (a) 
and (b)--
            (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form; and
            (2) shall be made publicly available online.
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