The DETER Act, a bill that allows the U.S. government to deport any non-U.S. citizen who meddles in American elections, passed the Senate unanimously on Monday, the Hill reports.
Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., introduced the legislation in response to findings produced by special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Mueller’s probe revealed threats to the U.S. election process and included his indictment of 13 Russian individuals in 2018 who traveled to America with the purpose of learning more on how to interfere with the political and electoral process.
According to Mueller, the individuals “falsely claimed they were traveling for personal reasons.”
While in the United States, the individuals traveled to Nevada, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Louisiana, Texas, and New York “for the purpose of collecting intelligence to inform the [Internet Research Agency’s] operations.”
"As we saw in the 2016 elections, Vladimir Putin’s Russia is attempting to strike at the very heart of the democratic values, freedoms, and liberty all Americans hold dear,” Graham said in a statement after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to pass the bill.
“By barring foreigners who improperly interfere in our elections from coming to the United States, the DETER Act sends a message to hostile nations across the world that the United States will not tolerate foreign interference in our elections,” Graham said in a statement after the committee's vote.
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