[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2145 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2145

  To prohibit the United States Government from barring refugees from 
      entering the United States based on their country of origin.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 16, 2017

  Mr. Murphy (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Franken, Mr. 
  Markey, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Hirono, and Mr. Booker) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To prohibit the United States Government from barring refugees from 
      entering the United States based on their country of origin.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``No Ban on Refugees Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) An individual's country of origin is unlikely to be an 
        indicator of his or her threat to the security of the United 
        States.
            (2) Since 1980, there has not been a single lethal 
        terrorist attack in the United States that was committed by a 
        refugee.
            (3) The United States accepts the most vulnerable refugees 
        for resettlement, the vast majority of whom are women and 
        children.
            (4) The need for stable countries willing to welcome 
        refugees has never been greater. The United Nations High 
        Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported that the level 
        of forcibly displaced people worldwide is ``the highest since 
        the aftermath of World War II''.
            (5) Refugees are, by definition, fleeing insecure or war-
        torn countries, such as Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, 
        Somalia, and Yemen.
            (6) The refugee vetting process involves at least 8 United 
        States Government agencies and does not rely primarily on 
        information provided by the refugees' countries of origin.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no agency or 
instrumentality of the United States Government may prevent a refugee 
(as defined in section 101(a)(42) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42))) from entering the United States based on 
the refugee's country of origin.
                                 <all>