This Issue: House pulls bill restricting President's authority on immigration after coronavirus fears spread

The House of Representatives scheduled a vote this week on the No Ban Act -- a bill that would have drastically restricted a President's broad authority to suspend admissions if those admissions are deemed to be "detrimental to the interests of the United States."

In limiting the President's authority, the bill would establish a laborious process before [b]any[/b] President could take such actions. It also repealed Pres. Trump's travel bans for terrorist-sponsoring nations, which were upheld by the Supreme Court.

NumbersUSA sent the following scoring notice to the House, urging Members to vote no:

We at NumbersUSA are incredulous that the House of Representatives would waste its time on a bill to make it difficult, if not impossible, for the President of the United States to respond rapidly to block the admission of aliens or classes of aliens that present a direct threat to the American people. The fact that the House would do this at the very time we are facing the COVID-19 outbreak is simply shameful.

REASONABLE MINDS PREVAIL?

Fortunately, House Leadership pulled the bill from the House calendar the day after the President announced travel restrictions from Europe.

Had the bill passed, it's unlikely that the Republican-controlled Senate would have considered it. Still, it would have established a marker on where the Democratic Party stands on Executive authority when it comes to securing the nation, whether it be in a time of war, terrorist threat or during a pandemic.

It appears that while the Democratic Party opposes Pres. Trump's earlier travel bans on principle, the Party's Leadership at least recognizes the message that would be sent by limiting the President's immigration authority during a national health crisis. Still, don't be surprised to see the bill brought back to the floor once the coronavirus pandemic subsides.

NEW USE OF 1182(f)

Pres. Trump used his Congressionally-granted authority under 8 U.S. Code 1182(f) on Wednesday when he announced a travel ban between the United States and the European Union. This followed travel restrictions to the Hubei province in China after the virus first began to rapidly spread throughout the region.

The European ban is limited to nonimmigrants. U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents are still allowed to travel; however, the State Department has issued travel advisories against doing so.

Pres. Trump's justification for the newest ban is based on how quickly the virus spread throughout the European Union, with the World Health Organization reporting more than 20,000 confirmed cases as of this morning. The U.S. has about 1,700 confirmed cases.

Since Pres. Trump's announcement, nearly every major sporting event has been canceled, schools and colleges have closed, retail stores have shut their doors, and businesses, including NumbersUSA, are taking extraordinary steps in an attempt to contain the virus. So while there's been a mixed response to this latest travel ban, it hasn't come close to the level of pushback he received after announcing his initial travel bans in January of 2017.

The events of the week are just another reminder of the role that immigration and border controls play in the overall security and safety of the American people.

Chris Chmielenski NumbersUSA Deputy Director