Executive Order 14161: Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats

What does Executive Order 14161 do?

Directed enhanced screening and vetting for visa applicants and people seeking admission, plus a 60-day country-by-country review of information-sharing and security risks.

Later primary evidence reviewed September 24, 2026: A later presidential entry-restrictions order expressly relied on the national-security review directed by this order. Official source. The cited steps do not establish every downstream effect.

Reading the operative provisions of Executive Order 14161

The order uses a country-by-country review rather than naming a final list in its text. State, DHS, DOJ, and the Director of National Intelligence were assigned to identify where identity information or cooperation was inadequate and recommend whether entry restrictions were warranted. The 60-day report was a recommendation stage. Proclamation 10949, issued later, was the separate presidential action that imposed restrictions on named countries and specified categories of travelers.

The order also directed stronger screening and vetting across visa and admission processes. That direction does not cancel a visa already issued by itself or decide an individual’s admissibility without the applicable immigration process. State and DHS still apply statutory grounds, exceptions, waivers, and consular procedures to individual cases. Later entry restrictions citing the review show how the policy was carried forward, but the proclamation—not the earlier study order—sets the operative country list and scope. Read Executive Order 14161 in the Federal Register.

A 60-day review is an information-gathering step, not an entry ban. State, DHS, DOJ, and intelligence officials were asked to evaluate identity systems, document reliability, and cooperation from foreign governments, then recommend country-specific responses. Proclamation 10949 is the follow-on instrument that sets restrictions and exceptions. When comparing the EO with that proclamation, check who is covered, whether a visa type is exempt, and whether a waiver is available; those details come from the later proclamation and its implementation, not from the review order alone.