U.S. Rep. wants to ban immigration from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and more

South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace introduced a bill Wednesday night aimed at banning immigrants from 40 nations, including several in the Caribbean and South America. And you’ll never guess how many of the 40 are predominantly Black and brown nations. (Spoiler alert: It’s 40.)

Mace hopes to permanently ban future immigration from places like Cuba, Dominica, Haiti, and Venezuela — nationalities that form the bedrock of Miami’s society. Even the bill’s name, “Third World Immigration Moratorium Act,” evokes archaic and racist themes, Florida Immigrant Coalition legal expert Thomas Kennedy told New Times Thursday.

“It’s an outdated term that’s been used as a slur or a way to insult or diminish South American countries. I think it’s a less offensive way to convey the term ‘shit hole country,’” Kennedy said when reached by phone, referring to President Donald Trump’s comments on immigrants from Haiti in 2018. “She represents the gutter of the gutter.”

Mace’s Facebook post about the bill positions her in the foreground, with fading images of heavily armed Black soldiers, as if she’s a superhero at the center of a movie poster.

“If you import the third world, you will become the third world. Our bill makes crystal clear: entry into the United States is a privilege, not a right. We make absolutely no apologies for defending it,” Mace posted on Facebook (it’s unclear whether the post was actually written by the Statue of Liberty’s evil twin).

The nationalities proposed in Mace’s ban are: Afghanistan, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and “aliens with travel documents issued by the Palestinian Authority,” rather than recognizing Palestine as a sovereign state.

According to a statement on Mace’s House of Representatives page, “These are not countries who have earned the privilege of access to the United States. Many of these are state sponsors of terror, hostile regimes, and failed states with a proven track record of exporting violence and instability to American soil.”

Kennedy says it’s not a coincidence that none of the countries Mace mentioned have a mostly white populace; it follows Trump and Republicans’ modus operandi. Mace’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

“The fish rots from the head down, you know?” Kennedy said. “The Trump administration went after refugee quotas and pretty much dismantled the refugee asylum system. But who did they make exceptions for? White South Africans.”

While Kennedy admits other wild bills have passed under this administration (so it’s possible this could as well), he doesn’t see this as a legitimate attempt to change policy.

“She’s a lame duck going out of office. I think this is just her attempt to get attention because she’s obviously thinking of running for Lindsey Graham’s seat,” Kennedy said, referring to late Sen. Graham’s death Saturday.