Freedom of Religion Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 590 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide that an alien may not be denied admission or entry to the United States, or other immigration benefits, because of the aliens religion, and for other pur- poses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 16, 2019 Mr. BEYER (for himself, Ms. NORTON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. OMAR, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. POCAN, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. COHEN, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. MCEACHIN, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. CON- NOLLY, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. RYAN, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. KILMER, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. KEATING, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. PALLONE, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. SIRES, Ms. TITUS, Mr. WELCH, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. KIND, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. SAR- BANES, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. HECK, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SOTO, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. FOSTER, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. MOORE, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. SUOZZI, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. CORREA, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Ms. WEXTON, Mr. RUSH, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. ROSE of New York, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. TONKO, Ms. MENG, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. MAT- SUI, Ms. HILL of California, Mr. COSTA, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mrs. NAPOLI- TANO, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. NORCROSS, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Ms. SHALALA, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. OCASIO- CORTEZ, Mr. HIMES, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CRIST, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. LAMB, Ms. LEE of Cali- fornia, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. MEEKS, Mrs. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H590.IH H590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 590 IH DEMINGS, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. LEWIS, and Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju- diciary A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide that an alien may not be denied admission or entry to the United States, or other immigration benefits, be- cause of the aliens religion, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom of Religion 4 Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON DENYING ADMISSION, ENTRY, OR 6 OTHER BENEFIT BECAUSE OF RELIGION. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title I of the Immi- 8 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1181 et seq.) is 9 amended by inserting after section 219 the following: 10 ‘‘SEC. 220. PROHIBITION ON DENYING ADMISSION, ENTRY, 11 OR OTHER BENEFIT BECAUSE OF RELIGION. 12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro- 13 vision of the immigration laws, an alien may not be denied 14 entry, reentry, or admission to the United States, or any 15 other immigration benefit, because of the alien’s religion 16 or lack of religious beliefs. 17 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H590.IH H590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 590 IH ‘‘(b) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in subsection (a) 1 shall be construed to affect the authorities under section 2 212(f), subsections (h) and (i) of section 221, or any other 3 provision of the immigration laws, when exercised on a 4 case-by-case basis with respect to an individual who a con- 5 sular officer, an immigration officer, the Attorney General, 6 the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Secu- 7 rity, or the President determines may pose a threat to 8 United States national security interests.’’. 9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 10 for the Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by 11 inserting after the item relating to section 219 the fol- 12 lowing: 13 ‘‘Sec. 220. Prohibition on denying admission, entry, or other benefit because of religion.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H590.IH H590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS