in effect
This is Executive Order 14161, signed January 20, 2025, and published in the Federal Register on January 30, 2025. It is a directive from the President instructing federal agencies to strengthen how the government screens foreign nationals who want to enter the United States or who are already here. It orders reviews, reports, and policy changes rather than creating new law on its own.
It tells the Secretary of State, Attorney General, Secretary of Homeland Security, and Director of National Intelligence to intensify vetting and to restore the screening standards that were in place on January 19, 2021. Within 60 days, those officials must jointly report to the President identifying countries whose vetting information is so weak that admission of their nationals could be partially or fully suspended under Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, plus how many people from those countries entered since January 20, 2021. Within 30 days, they must review and adjust regulations tied to specific inadmissibility grounds (INA 212(a)(2)–(3)), add stricter identity verification for refugees and stateless people, evaluate all visa programs for misuse, and devote resources to denaturalization cases under 8 U.S.C. 1451. It also directs Homeland Security to take immediate steps to exclude or remove covered aliens when disqualifying information is found, unless doing so would harm a serious pending investigation or national security.
Foreign nationals applying for U.S. visas or admission — as well as refugees, stateless individuals, and non-citizens already in the country — face broader and stricter screening, and nationals of countries flagged as having deficient information could see admissions suspended. The named federal agencies carry the workload of the reviews, reports, and enforcement. The order states it creates no legal rights that any person can enforce in court against the government.