(NBC) In 2017, President Donald Trump triggered national outrage for implementing a so-called Muslim travel ban, blocking U.S. admissions for travelers from predominantly Muslim countries. The move prompted widespread protests and legal challenges, and Joe Biden rescinded it in one of his first actions as president.
But even before Trump suggested such a ban, a low-profile congressman named Ron DeSantis quietly introduced what amounted to an early version of that travel order.
On Dec. 1, 2015, DeSantis — now the governor of Florida and a Republican presidential candidate — introduced the Terrorist Refugee Infiltration Prevention Act, which would have blocked entry of refugees from certain countries “if the alien is a national of, has habitually resided in, or is claiming refugee status due to events in any country containing terrorist-controlled territory.”
