This is a red alert. On April 9, 2025, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a bill calling for a BAN on travel to Iran. It is included in H.R. 2619 - The “No Paydays for Hostage-Takers Act,” introduced by Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-WA), and we must fight back to prevent it from becoming law. The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) strongly opposes this bill. This bill will now be sent to the House of Representatives for a vote. 

Of deep concern, Section 9 of the bill includes a provision that encourages the Trump administration to ban travel to Iran on a U.S. passport. This call is deeply troubling, as it would punish many ordinary people, in particular Iranian Americans, while solving no challenges vis-a-vis Iran.

Make no mistake: a ban as called for by this bill could have serious ramifications for anyone traveling to Iran, regardless of passport. We must make clear that this is unacceptable.

The Iranian government's detentions of Iranian Americans as political pawns have been abhorrent and terrifying, as is its broader repression of the people of Iran. But we know that most Iranian Americans have family in Iran, and many regularly travel as their only option to visit them.

What if you could no longer travel to Iran to see relatives, visit a sick family member, attend a wedding, or claim an inheritance out of fear of being imprisoned by the U.S. government? Seeing our loved ones isn't a crime, and no government, whether Iranian or American, should prevent us from doing so.

Tell Congress: Do not ban travel to Iran!