Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who is running for Texas attorney general, announced he is introducing legislation to stop radical foreign Muslim clerics from entering the United States, arguing that America’s visa system is being abused by extremists who openly oppose Western values.
In an interview, Roy explained that the Inhibiting Militant Adversarial Mullahs Act would prevent radical Islamic clerics and imams from using religious worker visas to gain entry into the country.
“Right now, we have — through our goodwill, frankly — a very expansive visa program,” Roy said. “We have R-1 visas that are enabled to be used for clergy and clerics around the world to be able to come to the United States.”
Roy emphasized that legitimate religious leaders should still be welcome in America but warned the U.S. should not make it easier for radical Islamic figures to spread extremist ideology.
“If you’ve got a visiting priest from Italy that wants to come work at a Catholic church somewhere in America, I mean, that’s all fine,” Roy said. “But to have radical Muslim clerics — imams — that are coming to the United States and are advancing the Islamification of the state of Texas, or even all of America, that’s wrong.”
Roy tied his legislation to broader immigration reforms, stating the federal government has failed to stop widespread abuse of the legal immigration system. He called for a freeze on all immigration.
“I introduced the PAUSE [Pausing All Admissions Until Security Ensured] Act last fall and continue to introduce smaller measures,” Roy said. “I keep doing this to highlight the absurdity of some of the things we’re doing.”
Roy also highlighted growing national security concerns, noting that foreign nationals are exploiting legal immigration programs to move into the country with stated intentions to wage jihad against Western values.
“We’ve got so much exploitation of our legal immigration system,” Roy said. “They’re taking advantage of our goodwill to move people into our country who literally have stated publicly they want to carry out the Islamification of America.”
Roy’s proposed legislation follows efforts by outgoing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has targeted a massive Islamic-centered development in North Texas.
Paxton filed lawsuits seeking to block the project, formerly known as EPIC City and later renamed The Meadow. The development reportedly includes more than 1,000 homes, a mosque, an Islamic school, and commercial properties.
Paxton has also pushed local officials to deny permits for the project and launched legal action against an affiliated Islamic school, warning that Texas “will not tolerate any threat posed by foreign adversaries or extremist ideologies operating under the guise of religion.”
