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Executive Order 14167
Clarifying the Military's Role in Protecting the Territorial Integrity of the United States
Signed January 20, 2025, printed at 90 FR 8613. 3 sections of substance, 780 words.
This order gives the armed forces a bigger role at the border. It says guarding the border is a military job too.
Sec. 1. Purpose
(a) As Chief Executive and as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, I have no more solemn responsibility than protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States along our national borders. The protection of a nation's territorial integrity and national boundaries is paramount for its security. (b) The Armed Forces of the United States have played a long and well-established role in securing our borders against threats of invasion, against unlawful forays by foreign nationals into the United States, and against other transnational criminal activities that violate our laws and threaten the peace, harmony, and tranquility of the Nation. These threats have taken a variety of forms over our Nation's history, but the Armed Forces have consistently played an integral role in protecting the sovereignty of the United States. (c) Threats against our Nation's sovereignty continue today, and it is essential that the Armed Forces staunchly continue to participate in the defense of our territorial integrity and sovereignty. A National Emergency currently exists along the southern border of the United States. Unchecked unlawful mass migration and the unimpeded flow of opiates across our borders continue to endanger the safety and security of the American people and encourage further lawlessness. Accordingly, through this order, I am acting in accordance with my solemn duty to protect and defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States along our national borders.
(a) As Chief Executive and as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, I have no more solemn responsibility than protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States along our national borders. The protection of a nation's territorial integrity and national boundaries is paramount for its security. (b) The Armed Forces of the United States have played a long and well-established role in securing our borders against threats of invasion, against unlawful forays by foreign nationals into the United States, and against other transnational criminal activities that violate our laws and threaten the peace, harmony, and tranquility of the Nation. These threats have taken a variety of forms over our Nation's history, but the Armed Forces have consistently played an integral role in protecting the sovereignty of the United States. (c) Threats against our Nation's sovereignty continue today, and it is essential that the Armed Forces staunchly continue to participate in the defense of our territorial integrity and sovereignty. A National Emergency currently exists along the southern border of the United States. Unchecked unlawful mass migration and the unimpeded flow of opiates across our borders continue to endanger the safety and security of the American people and encourage further lawlessness. Accordingly, through this order, I am acting in accordance with my solemn duty to protect and defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States along our national borders.
This sets out the case the order makes. It calls guarding the border a solemn duty. It says the armed forces have long had that role. It names past threats of invasion and unlawful crossing. It says crime across borders is part of that. It says the role has held through the nation's history.
Sec. 2. Policy
It is the policy of the United States to ensure that the Armed Forces of the United States prioritize the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States along our national borders.
It is the policy of the United States to ensure that the Armed Forces of the United States prioritize the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States along our national borders.
This states the policy. The armed forces must put border protection first. The country's sovereignty is the stated interest. So is the integrity of its land. The duty runs along the national borders. That task ranks above other work.
Sec. 3. Implementation
The Secretary of Defense shall: (a) No later than 10 days from the effective date of this order, deliver to the President a revision to the Unified Command Plan that assigns United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) the mission to seal the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities. (b) On the effective date of this order, add the following requirements to the Contingency Planning Guidance and Guidance for the Employment of the Force: (i) A Level 3 planning requirement for USNORTHCOM to seal the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion, including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities, with a commander's estimate due to the Secretary of Defense within 30 days of the effective date of this order. (ii) A campaign planning requirement for USNORTHCOM to provide steady-state southern border security, seal the border, and maintain the [[Page 8614]] sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion, including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities. (iii) Continuous assessments of all available options to protect the sovereign territory of the United States from mass unlawful entry and impingement on our national sovereignty and security by foreign nations and transnational criminal organizations.
The Secretary of Defense shall: (a) No later than 10 days from the effective date of this order, deliver to the President a revision to the Unified Command Plan that assigns United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) the mission to seal the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities. (b) On the effective date of this order, add the following requirements to the Contingency Planning Guidance and Guidance for the Employment of the Force: (i) A Level 3 planning requirement for USNORTHCOM to seal the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion, including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities, with a commander's estimate due to the Secretary of Defense within 30 days of the effective date of this order. (ii) A campaign planning requirement for USNORTHCOM to provide steady-state southern border security, seal the border, and maintain the [[Page 8614]] sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion, including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities. (iii) Continuous assessments of all available options to protect the sovereign territory of the United States from mass unlawful entry and impingement on our national sovereignty and security by foreign nations and transnational criminal organizations.
This tells Defense to act. Within 10 days it must revise the command plan. That plan gives one command the border task. The task is to seal the border and hold the line. It covers mass crossing, drugs and smuggling. New planning rules are added the same day.
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. (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. 2025-02089 Filed 1-29-25; 11:15 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. (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. 2025-02089 Filed 1-29-25; 11:15 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.
- The order itself
Executive Order 14167, “Clarifying the Military's Role in Protecting the Territorial Integrity of the United States,” signed January 20, 2025, 90 FR 8613 (January 30, 2025).
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/30/2025-02089/clarifying-the-militarys-role-in-protecting-the-territorial-integrity-of-the-united-states - This page
Executive Order 14167, quoted section by section. Read the Mandate, https://readthemandate.org/orders/eo-14167/ (retrieved October 8, 2026).
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