Senator Murray, Senator Cantwell cosponsor bill to block Trump’s updated travel ban

Washington state’s senators are joining 14 of their Senate colleagues on a bill to reverse President Trump’s new executive order that restricts refugees and immigrants from six Muslim-majority nations.

U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) said the legislation would withhold funding to enforce the new executive order.

The bill – which is similar to legislation introduced in January to block the first version of the Trump Administration’s travel ban – would not only withhold funding but also declares the executive order is illegal based on the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which banned discrimination against immigrants on the basis of national origin.

“Make no mistake, President Trump’s updated ban is still a ban on Muslims — and it still flies in the face of everything this country is about and what we stand for,” Murray said.

“Slamming the door shut on refugees and immigrants is un-American, and I will not idly sit by as President Trump continues to push a hateful agenda that betrays our American values,” Murray added.

“President Trump’s revised executive order retreats from our values,” Cantwell said.

“We do not discriminate against individuals based on religion or national origin. We can both protect human rights and keep Americans safe from terrorism,” Cantwell said.

Original cosponsors of the bill include U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).

Tags: