Perhaps in an effort to save face, House Democrats have decided to pull and table a vote on the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act or the NO BAN Act, which was designed to tie the president’s hands and prevented him from restricting travel and immigration from Islamic countries – despite the fact that not all the nations in the president’s ban have Muslim majorities. The bill, sponsored by Representative Judy Chu (D-CA), was scheduled for voting on March 12.
“Democrats could not have picked a worse week to try to undermine American travel restrictions,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said. “President Trump’s quick decision to restrict travel to countries like Iran and China was a smart response and it is helping keep America safe.”
The proposed legislation, H.R.2214:
“... 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, unless there is a statutory basis for such discrimination.”
The bill was postponed not long after President Donald Trump addressed the nation on March 11 and imposed a ban on travels from Europe to the United States. The restrictions will begin on Friday, March 13, and will last for 30 days. The premise of the NO BAN Act is that the limits are discriminatory, especially against Muslims; however, Iran, for example, has one of the largest outbreaks of the Coronavirus outside of China. Also, it would be difficult to claim the administration’s actions are racists when the commander in chief just closed the nation to travelers from Europe, which is home to many cultures and races, including Caucasians.
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) mentioned the large numbers of people infected with the virus in Iran and said, “With this outbreak of coronavirus, the president … needs to have all the tools available to limit people coming in from countries with a high propensity of coronavirus, and you wouldn’t want legislation that would make it more difficult.”
Still, some Democrats insist the NO BAN Act needs to be passed immediately. Rep. Ilhan Omar, the Democrat from Minnesota, tweeted on March 12 that “The Muslim ban is more than just hateful and xenophobic. It’s a divider of families. An obstruction of dreams. A killer of religious freedom. To ignore the #NOBANAct is to endorse the Muslim ban. If we don’t pass it today, any moral authority the United States had is lost.”
The Coronavirus outbreak has added European countries to the ban, but only temporarily, as a means to try and keep the pandemic from spreading even more in the United States. The House has already passed a procedural rule on the NO BAN Act, which means it can return the floor after next week’s recess to be voted on.
Members of the House should be asking themselves whether removing power from the president and undoing acts already in place to combat racism are wise when so many of those affected wouldn't fit the left's victim narrative. Will Democrats be confident enough to move forward when the facts have already proved their thinking faulty?
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Read more from Kelli Ballard.
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