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For more than three years, the Trump administration has done what it can to stop Muslims, refugees, asylum seekers, and many others from entering our country. The passage of the National Origin-Based Anti-discrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act is a major step toward ending discrimination in our immigration laws and policies.​ It happened- In the Democratic led House this week!  Here it is! The No Ban Act would vacate Trump’s existing travel bans on countries his administration deems to be threats to national security, as well as put in place measures to prevent future such bans.

Sponsor: Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-27](Introduced 04/10/2019)Committees: House – Judiciary; Foreign Affairs; Homeland Security; Intelligence (Permanent Select)Committee Reports: H. Rept. 116-413

VOX REPORT:

Even amid the pandemic, House Democrats are keeping a focus on President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda: They passed a bill on Wednesday that would repeal the travel ban on citizens of 13 countries and limit his authority to issue such sweeping bans in the future.

The bill — the No Ban Act, which passed 233-183 — will almost certainly go nowhere in the Republican-led Senate, where several Democrat-led immigration bills have languished.

But it allows Democrats to contrast themselves with Trump ahead of the presidential election and present themselves as a party that welcomes immigrants, rather than keeping them out.

Indeed all of us on the frontline of Asylum and Refugee work are bracing in preparedness for a new administration. We will get through this and we will WIN!

In fact we have been winning this uphill battle in the Courts, in the Court of Public option and yet the hateful xenophobic racist policy persists. The is clearly because of the GOP hold on the Senate and White House. With a majority BLUE VOTE up and down, and a 2020 swing in the electoral colleges, – this will change – and our constant wins will be realized as we find our way to legislate pro-immigrant – pro-American values!

VOX:

Democrats are hopeful that former Vice President Joe Biden will prioritize the legislation should he win the presidential election this fall. He could quickly repeal Trump’s travel bans via executive order, but the bill would provide more lasting protection against such bans in any future administration.

“It’s a very clear signal about what the House Democratic Caucus stands for,” said Tom Jawetz, vice president of immigration policy at the Center for American Progress think tank. “An incoming Biden administration can and should eliminate these bans by the stroke of a pen on day one. But that act itself will not stop a future administration from trying to shape an immigration system in his or her own anti-immigrant, racist image. This bill imposes important procedural and substantive constraints on that authority.”

President of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), issued the following statement on the passage of legislation ending the Muslim ban and other discriminatory immigration orders:

“The passage of legislation to end the Muslim ban is a decisive victory for everyone impacted by this disgraceful ban that is rooted in Trump’s bigotry. If you feared for a loved one detained or deported by one of Trump’s bans, were separated from a loved one because of where they were born, or simply showed up to protest this un-American and discriminatory order, this vote today was for you.

“There is a direct line from Trump’s illegal and unlawful order, implemented in part by DHS officials across the country, and the illegal crackdown on peaceful protesters across our country today. At every juncture where people should have stepped up and halted Trump, there have been enablers who have helped erode our democracy. The House of Representatives deserves credit today for voting decisively against the Trump Administration’s original sin in the Muslim ban, as well as enacting protections to guard against similar discriminatory orders.

“We would not have achieved this milestone without the tireless work of advocates across the country, including the countless Iranian Americans who continue to demand No Muslim Ban Ever. Nor would we have secured this vote without our key allies in civil rights groups like the ACLU, CAIR, NILC, Muslim Advocates and so many more who stood up for American values and helped craft far-reaching legislation to overturn the ban. Legislators including Reps. Judy Chu, Zoe Lofgren, Jerrold Nadler and Speaker Nancy Pelosi deserve tremendous credit for their work to build support and secure a vote on this important legislation.

“Rep. Pramila Jayapal, as well, should be commended for her work against the Muslim ban and for shepherding the Access to Counsel Act through the House today, which would provide additional protections to individuals unjustly detained and threatened with deportation at the border. The importance of this provision was heightened when dozens of Iranian Americans and Iranian nationals alike were unjustly held at the Blaine Port of Entry in Washington earlier this year.

“Needless to say, the fight is not over. The Senate should immediately take up this bill and pass it. However, we unfortunately doubt that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has the courage and moral clarity to allow a vote that would rebuke the bigoted President he has defended since Day 1. That means we need to elect new leaders who will end this ban once and for all. Joe Biden has pledged to NIAC Action and other groups that he would end the ban on Day 1. We look forward to working to make sure that pledge is fulfilled.”