In 2003, Barrett introduced a similar bill. It got four co-sponsors. But there was never even a hearing held on the bill and it died with all other unpassed legislation at the end of that two-year Congress. Back then, the Republicans held a majority in the House of Representatives and Barrett couldn’t even get a hearing. Now the Democrats have a majority and can be expected to view the bill contemptuously.
The bill would ban the issuance of any visas, either immigrant or non-immigrant, to nationals of Iran, Sudan, Syria and Cuba (the four countries still listed as terrorist-supporting states) plus Yemen.
The only exception is that the Department of Homeland Security may, on a case-by-case basis, admit a national of one of those countries as a refugee, or for asylum or emergency medical care.
If the bill were to pass, no Iranian grandmother would be allowed to visit her grandchildren in the United States..
Barrett’s 2010 bill drops a provision from the 2003 version that would have required nationals of the five countries in the United States on the date of enactment to leave within 60 days..
Many bills introduced in Congress go nowhere.. In fact, the vast majority of bills never become law. More than 10,000 bills are being introduced in each two-year Congress. But the average number of Public Laws enacted in each two-year Congress is less than 500.
Barrett said that the purpose of his bill—entitled the Stop Terrorists Entry Program—is to put up a barrier to the entry of terrorists. But none of the five countries named in the bill has produced a large number of terrorists. The main arrests in the United States of terrorism suspects appear to be nationals of Pakistan, with Somalia and Saudi Arabia far behind in second and third place.