Documents › Executive orders › 14161
Executive Order 14161
Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats
Signed January 20, 2025, printed at 90 FR 8451. 3 sections of substance, 1,181 words.
This order is about who may enter the country. It tells agencies to screen harder. People seen as a threat are to be kept out.
Sec. 1. Policy and Purpose
(a) It is the policy of the United States to protect its citizens from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes. (b) To protect Americans, the United States must be vigilant during the visa-issuance process to ensure that those aliens approved for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans or our national interests. More importantly, the United States must identify them before their admission or entry into the United States. And the United States must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our
(a) It is the policy of the United States to protect its citizens from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes. (b) To protect Americans, the United States must be vigilant during the visa-issuance process to ensure that those aliens approved for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans or our national interests. More importantly, the United States must identify them before their admission or entry into the United States. And the United States must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our
This sets the policy on who may enter. It says people who mean harm must be kept out. That covers terror plots and hateful views. It says they must be found before they arrive. It says those already here must be checked too. The test is hostility to the country and its founding ideas.
Sec. 2. Enhanced Vetting and Screening Across Agencies
(a) The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence, shall promptly: (i) identify all resources that may be used to ensure that all aliens seeking admission to the United States, or who are already in the United States, are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible; (ii) determine the information needed from any country to adjudicate any visa, admission, or other benefit under the INA for one of its nationals, and to ascertain whether the individual seeking the benefit is who the individual claims to be and that the individual is not a security or public-safety threat; (iii) re-establish a uniform baseline for screening and vetting standards and procedures, consistent with the uniform baseline that existed on January 19, 2021, that will be used for any alien seeking a visa or
(a) The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence, shall promptly: (i) identify all resources that may be used to ensure that all aliens seeking admission to the United States, or who are already in the United States, are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible; (ii) determine the information needed from any country to adjudicate any visa, admission, or other benefit under the INA for one of its nationals, and to ascertain whether the individual seeking the benefit is who the individual claims to be and that the individual is not a security or public-safety threat; (iii) re-establish a uniform baseline for screening and vetting standards and procedures, consistent with the uniform baseline that existed on January 19, 2021, that will be used for any alien seeking a visa or
This is about checks on visitors. State leads, with three other agency heads. They must find every tool for screening people. They must decide what each country should supply. That helps confirm who a person really is. They must restore the standards used before 2021.
Sec. 3. Additional Measures to Protect the Nation
As soon as possible, but no later than 30 days from the date of this order, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence, shall also: (a) Evaluate and adjust all existing regulations, policies, procedures, and provisions of the Foreign Service Manual, or guidance of any kind pertaining to each of the grounds of inadmissibility listed in sections 212(a)(2)-(3) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)- (3)), to ensure the continued safety and security of the American people and our constitutional republic; (b) Ensure that sufficient safeguards are in place to prevent any refugee or stateless individual from being admitted to the United States without undergoing stringent identification verification beyond that required of any other alien seeking admission or entry to the United States; (c) Evaluate
As soon as possible, but no later than 30 days from the date of this order, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence, shall also: (a) Evaluate and adjust all existing regulations, policies, procedures, and provisions of the Foreign Service Manual, or guidance of any kind pertaining to each of the grounds of inadmissibility listed in sections 212(a)(2)-(3) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)- (3)), to ensure the continued safety and security of the American people and our constitutional republic; (b) Ensure that sufficient safeguards are in place to prevent any refugee or stateless individual from being admitted to the United States without undergoing stringent identification verification beyond that required of any other alien seeking admission or entry to the United States; (c) Evaluate
This adds more steps within 30 days. State leads, with three other agency heads. Rules on who may be barred must be reviewed. That covers the manual used by consular staff. Refugees and stateless people face tighter checks. Those checks go beyond what other travelers face.
Sec. 4. General Provisions
Every order carries this. It is not what the order does.
(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. [[Page 8453]] (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. <GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT> (Presidential Sig.) THE WHITE HOUSE, January 20 2025. [FR Doc. 2025-02009 Filed 1-29-25; 8:45 am] Billing code 3395-F4-P </pre></body> </html>
(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. [[Page 8453]] (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. <GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT> (Presidential Sig.) THE WHITE HOUSE, January 20 2025. [FR Doc. 2025-02009 Filed 1-29-25; 8:45 am] Billing code 3395-F4-P </pre></body> </html>
This is the closing clause that nearly every order carries. It says the order does not change what the law already allows. It also says no one can sue to enforce it.
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