US Congressmen Introduce Bill To Challenge Trump's Travel Ban - Lawmakers

Faizan Hashmi Published January 17, 2019 | 04:09 AM

NEW YORK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th January, 2019) A bipartisan group of 124 US Congressmen on Wednesday introduced a bill prohibiting religious discrimination in the immigration system of the United States, Congressman Don Beyer's press office said in a release.

"Today, 124 members of the House of Representatives led by Reps. Don Beyer (VA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Andre Carson (D-IN), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) introduced the Freedom of Religion Act to prohibit religious discrimination in our immigration system," the release said on Wednesday.

According to the text of the bill, a foreign national from any country should not be denied entry in the United States or other immigration benefits based on the person's religion.

The legislation, initially introduced in 2016, came in response to President Donald Trump's executive order in January 2017 that imposed restrictions on foreign nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries from visiting the United States, the release noted.

The second anniversary of Trump signing the "travel ban" order is on January 27, 2019. The administration modified the order several times after facing court challenges.

In June, the US Supreme Court upheld the current version of the ban, which imposes restrictions on, or bars travelers from coming to the United States from Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and Venezuela.