Members announce and expand 'Sharia Free America' caucus, call for measures to block foreign legal codes

On March 26 a group of House members used extended floor time to announce and expand a "Sharia Free America" caucus and argued the House should adopt measures to prevent foreign religious legal codes from affecting American law.

Speakers described a suite of policy concerns — ranging from local housing proposals to the prospect of foreign‑law influence in family and civil matters — and urged Congress to consider bills that would bar courts from applying foreign religious law or recognizing foreign legal codes in U.S. jurisprudence. Several members tied recent violent attacks and international instability to the broader doctrine they criticized and called for strengthened vetting and designation of extremist groups.

Critics said the rhetoric conflated Islam as a religion with violent extremist ideologies and risked alienating Muslim Americans and conflating reformist or moderate practices with violent supremacism. Supporters said the caucus aims to preserve constitutional supremacy and equal treatment under U.S. law.

The floor segment featured multiple Republicans announcing that the caucus had grown rapidly and inviting colleagues to join; members said they would pursue legislation to prohibit enforcement of foreign theocratic codes in U.S. courts and to tighten immigration and vetting processes where national security concerns arise.