Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats

The order directs the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence, to immediately enhance vetting and screening of all aliens seeking admission to or already present in the United States. It requires re-establishing the uniform screening and vetting baseline that existed on January 19, 2021, and directs the Department of Homeland Security to immediately move to exclude or remove any alien for whom disqualifying information is identified, unless doing so would impede a serious criminal prosecution or harm national security. Within 30 days, the same officials must evaluate and adjust regulations governing immigration inadmissibility grounds, strengthen refugee identity-verification requirements, evaluate all visa programs for national-security risks, and recommend actions to protect Americans from foreign nationals who undermine constitutional rights.

Within 60 days, the officials must jointly report to the President identifying countries with vetting data so deficient as to potentially warrant suspending admissions of their nationals under section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and detailing how many nationals from those countries have entered the United States since January 20, 2021. The order does not itself suspend admissions from any country; that action would require a separate presidential determination after the report is received.

Foreign nationals applying for U.S. visas, entry, or immigration benefits; refugees and stateless individuals seeking admission; lawful immigrants already in the United States; and State Department consular officers, DHS immigration officials, DOJ attorneys, and intelligence analysts who administer and review vetting processes.

All visa and immigration applicants will immediately be processed under restored pre-2021 vetting standards. Nationals from countries later identified in the 60-day report could face suspended admissions, and refugees face new requirements for enhanced identity verification beyond standard screening that applies to other applicants.

The order works in two phases. First, agencies immediately re-apply the January 19, 2021 screening baseline for all visa and immigration applications, and DHS acts on any alien for whom removal-qualifying information emerges. In parallel, within 30 days agencies evaluate inadmissibility regulations and visa-program adequacy and submit recommendations. Within 60 days, a joint report to the President identifies countries whose nationals may face admission suspension under INA § 212(f). Actual country-level suspensions require a separate presidential decision after receipt of that report.