H.R. 8182

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8182 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8182

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 2, 2026

Mr. Moore of North Carolina (for himself, Mrs. Luna, Mrs. Fedorchak, 
Mr. Kennedy of Utah, Mr. Self, Mr. McDowell, Mr. Fleischmann, Ms. Mace, 
Mr. Grothman, Mr. Steube, and Mr. Webster of Florida) introduced the 
following bill; which was 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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