Iran Press/ America: The measure passed 233-183 on Wednesday, mainly along party lines. The legislation would lift restrictions President Donald Trump has put on numerous countries over the years, including travel limits initially placed on a group of predominantly Muslim nations.
The measure also would expand the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit discrimination based on religion. The bill is not expected to advance in the Republican-led Senate, however, The Associated Press reported.
"Today, almost three and a half years to the day after President Trump issued his first Muslim Ban, the House of Representatives voted to put us on the right side of history by repealing it completely," the bill's sponsor, Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., said in a statement. "This ban never had anything to do with national security; it was always driven by prejudice."
Prior to the vote, Democrats criticized the travel ban as 'dangerous' and said that it went against fundamental US values.
"We must ensure that our country is open to everyone, not just those Trump deems acceptable," Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said on the House floor.
The bill was widely opposed by Republicans, many of whom denounced Democratic lawmakers for calling Trump's travel restrictions a 'Muslim ban'.
Trump first placed travel restrictions on a group of predominantly Muslim nations as one of his first presidential acts after he took office in 2017. In an executive order, he prohibited visas for anyone traveling from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Iraq also was on the initial group of nations banned but was later removed. North Korea and political officials from Venezuela were added to the list of nations months later.
The most recent update of the restrictions announced in a proclamation that took effect on Feb. 22, suspended immigrant visas from Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, and Myanmar. The decree also barred Sudan and Tanzania from participating in the diversity visa lottery program, which annually allocates 50,000 green cards at random to countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
Several federal courts tried to block the ban, but in 2018 the Supreme Court ruled, 5-4, that Trump had a sufficient national security justification for a policy that on its face 'says nothing about religion'. 207/214
Read More:
Our lives are on hold: Iranians affected by Trump travel ban
Congress members hold White House to account over anti-Iran sanctions
Architect of "maximum" sanctions sheds crocodile tears for Iranians
