Banning Perpetrators of Religious Persecution Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3679 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3679

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to restrict visa issuance 
to individuals who have directed, authorized, significantly supported, 
    participated in, or carried out violations of religious freedom.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 15, 2026

  Mr. Budd (for himself, Mrs. Blackburn, Mrs. Moody, Mr. Cotton, Mr. 
    Banks, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Lankford, and Mr. Cruz) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to restrict visa issuance 
to individuals who have directed, authorized, significantly supported, 
    participated in, or carried out violations of religious freedom.

    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 ``Banning Perpetrators of Religious 
Persecution Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. RESTRICTING VISA ISSUANCE TO INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE CARRIED OUT 
              VIOLATIONS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

    Section 212(a)(2)(G) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(G)) is amended to read as follows:
                    ``(G) Aliens who have committed violations of 
                religious freedom.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Any alien who--
                                    ``(I) while serving as a foreign 
                                government official, was responsible 
                                for, or directly carried out, at any 
                                time, particularly severe violations of 
                                religious freedom (as defined in 
                                section 3(13) of the International 
                                Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 
                                U.S.C. 6402(13))); or
                                    ``(II) at any time while outside 
                                the United States, directed, 
                                authorized, significantly supported, 
                                participated in, was responsible for, 
                                or carried out particularly severe 
                                violations of religious freedom or 
                                violations of religious freedom (as 
                                defined in section 3(16) of such Act 
                                (22 U.S.C. 6402(16))),
                        is inadmissible.
                            ``(ii) Public notice.--
                                    ``(I) In general.--Notwithstanding 
                                the limitations under section 222(f) 
                                with respect to the confidentiality of 
                                certain immigration records and except 
                                as provided under subclause (II), the 
                                Secretary of State shall post, on a 
                                publicly accessible website of the 
                                Department of State--
                                            ``(aa) the names of all of 
                                        the aliens determined to be 
                                        inadmissible under clause (i); 
                                        and
                                            ``(bb) the countries or 
                                        other locations in which 
                                        violations of religious freedom 
                                        described in such clause took 
                                        place.
                                    ``(II) Exception.--If the Secretary 
                                of State determines, on a case-by-case 
                                basis and in the Secretary's sole and 
                                unreviewable discretion, that the 
                                public release of the identity of any 
                                particular alien determined to be 
                                inadmissible under clause (i) would 
                                have adverse foreign policy 
                                consequences for the United States, the 
                                Secretary--
                                            ``(aa) may exclude such 
                                        alien from the disclosure 
                                        requirement under subclause 
                                        (I); and
                                            ``(bb) shall submit a 
                                        semiannual report to Congress, 
                                        in accordance with section 
                                        51(a) of the State Department 
                                        Basic Authorities Act of 1956 
                                        (22 U.S.C. 2723(a)), explaining 
                                        the reasons for such 
                                        exclusion.''.
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