Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina has introduced legislation seeking to prohibit most nationals of dozens of countries, including The Gambia, Senegal and Nigeria, from entering the United States.
The proposed legislation, titled the Third World Immigration Moratorium Act, would impose wide-ranging entry restrictions on citizens of countries the congresswoman says have failed to cooperate adequately with US deportation orders, provide reliable information for security screening or address concerns about terrorism and political instability.
Mace said the measure was intended to strengthen national security and close what she described as gaps in the American immigration system.
“The American people are done playing games, and so are we,” she said in a statement announcing the bill.
Mace argued that entry into the United States was a privilege rather than an automatic right and said the legislation would allow the government to take stronger action against countries considered unwilling or unable to meet US security and immigration requirements.
The proposal would restrict entry by nationals of Afghanistan, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, Burundi, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, The Gambia, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The restrictions would also apply to people travelling with documents issued by the Palestinian Authority.
According to Mace’s office, the list broadly reflects countries included in an immigration proclamation issued by President Donald Trump restricting or limiting the entry of certain foreign nationals on security grounds.
The bill, however, would preserve several exemptions.
Lawful permanent residents would not be affected, while dual nationals travelling on passports from countries not included in the restrictions would remain eligible to enter.
Exemptions would also apply to diplomats, NATO personnel, certain athletes participating in major international competitions, special immigrant visa holders and individuals who assisted US forces abroad.
The proposal would also protect certain people fleeing documented ethnic or religious persecution in Iran.
The Secretary of Homeland Security would be authorised to grant individual waivers in cases where a person’s entry was found to serve a verified and critical US national interest.
Mace used strongly worded language in defending the legislation, accusing some affected governments of exporting violence, instability and security risks.
“We are not a dumping ground for the third world’s problems,” she said, adding that the measure was intended to prevent potentially dangerous individuals from entering the country.
The terminology used in the bill and Mace’s statement is likely to attract criticism from immigration advocates and representatives of the affected countries, who may view the proposed restrictions as overly broad and discriminatory.
The legislation would also require the US Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence, to submit a report to Congress every 180 days.
The report would assess whether the restrictions should be continued, amended or extended to additional countries.
The bill would have to pass both chambers of Congress and be signed by the president before becoming law.
