The US House of Representatives has passed a bill called the ‘National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrant (NO BAN) Act’ that will restrict the President’s power to impose travel bans on countries on the basis of religion.
The development came in response to the controversial ‘Muslim travel ban’ imposed by the former US President, Donald Trump, that had barred travelers from various Muslim-majority countries from entering America.
The bill was approved by a 218-208 vote in the House on Wednesday and now has to be passed in the US Senate to become a law.
ALSO READ
Everything You Need to Know About the Deadly New Indian COVID-19 Variant
The Democrat Representative, Judy Chu, introduced the NO BAN Act, and said in her speech on the floor of the House that the previous ban was “always wrong, needless and cruel”.
“And today we can make sure it never happens again. First, this policy was wrong. America does not ban people because of their religion, and the Supreme Court acknowledged this,” she added.
ALSO READ
Tunisian President Replies to Imran Khan’s Letter Against Islamophobia
Madihha Ahussain, the counsel to Muslim Advocates which is a US civil rights group, said, “The Muslim ban tore families apart, put lives on hold for years, and labeled Muslims, Africans, and other targeted people as threatening outsiders”.
“We must ensure that no president can enact discriminatory bans like this ever again and with the passage of the NO BAN Act in the House, we are taking a major step forward to ensuring that they won’t,” she stressed.
The move has been welcomed by a coalition of Muslim and immigrant rights groups and civil rights advocates.
