Proposed Act Mandates Immediate Visa Cancellation and Entry Ban for Foreign Nationals Linked to Muslim Brotherhood

This new piece of legislation, the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2025, is designed to formally align U.S. policy regarding the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) with the rules currently applied to designated terrorist organizations. Essentially, the bill takes the existing prohibitions in the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987—rules that restrict activities and designations related to groups like the PLO—and expands them to include the MB and its affiliates (SEC. 2).

The bill’s core mechanism is to treat the MB as a single, globally operating entity, asserting that groups like Hamas are direct branches. It mandates specific, rapid actions by the Executive Branch, focusing heavily on immigration consequences and mandatory sanctions. This isn't just a policy statement; it creates new, non-negotiable requirements for the State Department and the President.

The Immediate Immigration Hammer

If you’re a foreign national and the U.S. government determines you are a “Muslim Brotherhood Member,” the policy shift is immediate and severe. The bill requires the Secretary of State to cancel your current U.S. visa immediately and deems you inadmissible to the country (SEC. 2). This determination of membership is based on the President’s finding, using “credible evidence.” For someone working or studying here on a temporary visa, this means an instant end to their ability to remain in the U.S. and an effective ban on future entry. This mandatory, immediate action based on a determination of membership represents a significant expansion of the government’s power to revoke visas without standard legal review processes.

Defining “Affiliate” So Broadly It Could Catch Everyone

One of the most consequential parts of this bill is how it defines who is covered. A “Muslim Brotherhood Branch” is defined as any group, charity, or organization that the MB “directly or indirectly owns, controls, or is affiliated with” (SEC. 2). This is where things get tricky in the real world. That phrase “indirectly affiliated with” is incredibly broad. It could potentially allow the government to designate a legitimate international aid organization, a local political party, or even a community center if it has a financial or organizational link—no matter how tenuous—to an entity that is itself linked to the MB. This broad definition gives the Executive Branch massive discretion to target a wide array of international organizations, potentially impacting humanitarian efforts or political groups that aren't inherently violent but are caught in the expansive net.

Mandatory Sanctions and the Four-Year Lock-In

The bill establishes a rigid annual reporting system. The Secretary of State must report every year on all MB branches globally and determine if they meet the criteria for designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) (SEC. 3). If the Secretary makes a “positive determination” about a branch, the President is then mandated to impose sanctions within 30 days. These sanctions include designating the branch as an FTO or imposing penalties under existing counter-terrorism executive orders.

Crucially, once the President imposes sanctions based on this report, the bill locks them in for a minimum of four years (SEC. 3). This is a significant detail. It means that even if the circumstances change, or if the initial determination was based on flawed intelligence or interpretation, the sanctions cannot be lifted for four years. This lack of flexibility removes the Executive Branch’s ability to quickly adjust policy or correct errors, forcing the penalty to stick for the duration, regardless of evolving facts on the ground.