Senators easily passed a bipartisan bill late Monday that would amend immigration law to ban foreigners suspected of interfering in the U.S. electoral process.
Offered by Sens. Dick Durbin, Illinois Democrat, and Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, the Defending Elections against Trolls from Enemy Regimes Act, or DETER Act, was passed by unanimous consent less than a month since being reintroduced following the completion of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 elections.
If pursued in the House with similar success and signed into law, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 would be updated so that foreigners accused of attempting to meddle in U.S. elections would be denied visas to enter the country or deported if already admitted.
“In 2016, Russia committed an act of cyber war against our country. Unfortunately, Congress has done little to prevent efforts by Russia or others to influence and disrupt the 2020 elections,” said Mr. Durbin, the Senate minority whip. “But the Senate took a positive step by passing my bipartisan DETER Act, which would prohibit foreigners who improperly interfere in our elections from coming to the United States to further their schemes, and bar them from entering our country in the future.”
“This legislation will up the ante against those who wish to interfere in our elections by permanently barring them from entrance into the United States,” Mr. Graham said. “This is a strong bipartisan signal being sent by the Senate and hopefully will be taken up by the House and be signed into law by President.”
Mr. Durbin and Mr. Graham initially offered the DETER Act in April 2018 after the special counsel’s office unsealed an indictment charging several Russian “internet trolls” accused of weaponizing social media platforms to sow discord during the 2016 presidential race, including several who allegedly visited the country in advance of that campaign to conduct reconnaissance.
The senators reintroduced the bill in early May after Mr. Mueller completed his 22-month investigation of the race and summarized his findings in a sprawling but heavily redacted report. It is co-sponsored by Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat, Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, and Patrick Leahy, Vermont Democrat.
Russian government officials have denied interfering in the 2016 race, and several spoke out Tuesday after the Senate bill easily passed. Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the Russian Federation Council’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, wrote on Facebook that the bill is the first ever to protect against “fairy tale characters,” and Vladimir Dzhabarov, the committee’s deputy chairman, told state media that the only goal of the bill is to worsen relations between the U.S. and Russia.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.