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)] <DOC> 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 relig