|
Executive Action
|
Date
|
Description
|
Status
|
|
Revocation of Biden-Administration Executive Orders
|
20 January 2025
|
Executive order revoked myriad executive orders and presidential actions signed during the Biden administration, including Executive Order (EO) 14012, EO 13993, and EO 14110.
|
In effect as of 20 January 2025
|
|
Travel Ban
|
20 January 2025 – Executive Order
4 June 2025 – Presidential Memorandum
16 December 2025 – Presidential Proclamation
|
Executive order authorizes “travel ban” reinstatement by no later than 21 March. Actions to be taken include:
- Identifying countries where “vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on admissions of nationals from those countries.”
- Determining if any individuals who entered or were admitted into the U.S. since the end of the first Trump administration in 2021 need to be excluded from admission and be removed from the country.
On 4 June, President Trump signed a memorandum restricting the ability of foreign nationals from 19 countries from being admitted entry into the United States effective 9 June. Twelve countries—Afghanistan, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, the Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen—have prohibitions on the entry of immigrant and nonimmigrant visa holders. For seven countries— Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela—prohibitions for entries for immigrant visa holders and individuals with B, F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas were enacted, and the validity for any other nonimmigrant visas will be reduced to minimum duration permitted by law. |
Enacted for 19 countries effective on 9 June 2025.
On 27 November 2025, USCIS Director Joe Edlow announced that U.S. President Trump had ordered a “full-scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card holder from ‘every country of concern.’” Edlow later indicated that the countries in question were the 19 countries identified within the June executive order. Additional details on what this might involve were still pending as of 28 November 2025.
List of impacted countries was updated via presidential proclamation on 16 December 2025, with an effective date of 1 January 2026.
|
|
Enhanced Vetting
|
20 January 2025
|
Executive order requiring the updating, no later than by 19 February of the “regulations, policies, procedures, and provisions of the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) regarding grounds for inadmissibility…to ensure the continued safety and security of the American people and our constitutional republic.”
|
Formal updates of the FAM are still ongoing as of 2 January 2026, but various elemental components are being updated as needed on a case-by-case basis. Talent mobility practitioners have noted cases of individual candidates receiving additional scrutiny by consulates and agencies since the EO was signed.
Additionally, multiple media reports have covered instances of foreign nationals being denied entry by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, with numerous of these cases involving issues such as past denials, inconsistent information in documentation, and/or information flagged in social media and/or electronic device reviews.
|
|
Visa Category Reviews
|
20 January 2025
|
EO requiring review, to be done by no later than 19 February, of all visa programs to “ensure they are not used by foreign nation-states or other hostile actors to harm the security, political, cultural, or other national interests of the United States.”
|
Still officially ongoing as of 2 January 2026 |
|
Potential Actions Against Foreign Nationals
|
20 January 2025
|
Executive order requiring identified agencies to provide recommendations by 19 February on how to “protect the American people from the actions of foreign nationals who have undermined or seek to undermine the fundamental Constitutional rights of the American people, including but not limited to, our Citizen’s rights to freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion protected by the First Amendment, who preach or call for sectarian violence, the overthrow or replacement of the culture on which our Constitutional Republic stands, or who provide aid, advocacy, or support for foreign terrorists.”
Additionally, a 29 January 2025 executive order related to combating antisemitism
|
Actions taken in relation to this EO include, but are not limited to:
-
Launch of the Department of State’s “Catch and Revoke” program in early March. At launch, the program was primarily intended to focus on actions around individuals in violation of the president’s antisemitism EO (see more below) but subsequently expanded to also include students with records of activity in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). Over 1,800 students were reported to have had their statuses terminated in the SEVIS system by late April, and over 100 associated lawsuits had been filed in U.S. courts.
On 25 April, the U.S. government indicated that it would be reinstating SEVIS statuses and pausing further SEVIS-related actions based solely on NCIC findings while U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) developed and implemented a policy and framework around SEVIS record terminations. No timeline has been released by ICE for when this will be completed.
-
A three-week pause in the scheduling of new F, M, and J visa appointments in order to implement new enhanced social media vetting for all F, M, and J visa applicants. The pause ended on 18 June with the Department of State announcing new requirements and processes for consular officials to conduct social media checks for all F, M, and J applicants during their visa appointment adjudication.
-
Planned additions of collection fields on USCIS forms to obtain social media handles of foreign nationals that have been used in the last five years. Previously, the collection of social media handles had been done only with the Department of State as part of the completion of a DS-160 or DS-160 Nonimmigrant/Immigrant Visa Application. However, during 2025, USCIS updated several of its forms to require inclusion of additional required fields, including social media handles. Additionally, DHS has indicated in the Federal Register that similar changes will likely be forthcoming in 2026 for individuals seeking visa waiver admission authorization via the ESTA program.
-
Ramped up communications by agencies, including the U.S. Department of State, related to the screening of foreign nationals throughout their time in the United States.
In December 2025, the U.S. State Department indicated that the Trump administration has revoked over 8,000 international student visas during the year.
|
|
Combating Anti-Semitism
|
29 January 2025
|
Executive order requires agencies to provide “recommendations for familiarizing institutions of higher education with the grounds for inadmissibility under 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3) so that such institutions may monitor for and report activities by alien students and staff relevant to those grounds and for ensuring that such reports about aliens lead, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to investigations and, if warranted, actions to remove such aliens.”
|
Starting in February, media reports indicated cases where international students were starting to have visa cancellations due to participation in protests related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In early March, Axios reported that the U.S. State Department launched its “Catch and Revoke” program to cancel the visas of foreign nationals who appear to support Hamas or other designated terror groups.” Actions related to this program have primarily involved students and reportedly leverage artificial intelligence tools to search the social media profiles of visa holders.
While SEVIS-related actions related to international students based solely on NCIC findings were halted in late April (see more above), media reports indicate that actions pertaining to students related to the EO remain ongoing. Numerous legal cases are ongoing involving actions related to this EO. |
|
Birthright Citizenship
|
20 January 2025
|
Executive order that restricts eligibility for birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment to exclude individuals whose mother is a foreign national either unlawfully in the United States at the time of birth or lawfully admitted into the United States on a temporary nonimmigrant visa. Government agencies are prohibited from issuing documents to excluded individuals confirming U.S. citizenship or recognizing documents issued by state, local, or other entities. This EO would apply to individuals born after 19 February 2025.
|
Implementation paused due to injunctions resulting from pending litigation.
After the EO was signed, Attorneys General from 22 U.S. states filed lawsuits in federal district courts challenging the legality of the executive order.
Multiple federal judges have placed injunctions on the implementation. This includes a nationwide indefinite hold issued by a U.S. District Judge on 6 February 2025.
On 13 March 2025, the Trump administration requested the U.S. Supreme Court to review and restrict the scope of injunctions blocking enforcement. On 17 April 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the government’s request to allow implementation of the EO on 15 May. On 27 June 2025, the Supreme Court released a 6-3 ruling restricting the applicability of nationwide injunctions by federal courts but did not rule on the merits of the EO.
On 28 September 2025, the Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court for expedited review of the birthright citizenship executive order by summer 2026. Potential action on this request by the Supreme Court could be announced as soon as early 2026.
|
|
U.S. Refugee Program
|
20 January 2025
|
Executive order ordering the suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for up to 90 days, effective from 27 January 2025 at 12:01 a.m. ET. USRAP will only resume after review by the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State and submission of reports on whether to restart the program based on national interests. The program will continue to be reviewed every 90 days until the president determines “that resumption of the USRAP is in the interests of the United States.”
|
As of 28 November 2025, the USRAP program remains largely suspended for anyone that would have received status under the program on or after 20 January 2025.
On 24 November 2025, media reports indicated that USCIS was ordering the re-review of the cases of approximately 233,000 individuals admitted in refugee status during the Biden administration. This action also involved the pausing of the processing of I-485 petitions for refugees admitted during the Biden administration pending outcome of the re-reviews.
Multiple cases have been filed and are going related to the refugee program. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on 25 March that individuals conditionally approved by USCIS prior to 20 January must still be processed and admitted while litigation continues.
Multiple lawsuits have been filed related to the executive order and the U.S. State Department’s associated blocking of funding for refugee resettlement, and cases are ongoing. |
|
Foreign Policy
|
20 January 2025
|
Executive order requiring the U.S. Secretary of State to review and issue guidance to bring “the Department of State’s policies, programs, personnel, and operations in line with an America First foreign policy, which puts America and its interests first.”
|
On 14 March, the State Department published a determination in the Federal Register that “all efforts, conducted by any agency of the federal government, to control the status, entry, and exit of people, and the transfer of goods, services, data, technology, and other items across the borders of the United States, constitute a foreign affairs function of the United States under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 553, 554.” If this remains in effect, this would enable the Trump administration to enact a range of changes related to immigration (including employment-based), trade, and tariffs, without the need to follow the normal notice-and-comment rulemaking process and consideration of public comments before issuing regulatory rules.
On 12 February, President Trump signed an executive order indicating that “officers or employees charged with implementing the foreign policy of the United States must under Article II do so under the direction and authority of the President.” The EO also launches reforms of the Foreign Service and the “administration of foreign relations to ensure faithful and effective implementation of the President’s foreign policy agenda.” |
|
Border Security – National Emergency
|
20 January 2025
|
Executive order declaring a national emergency at the Southern border pursuant to the National Emergencies Act. The declaration includes a range of actions, including deployment of the U.S. military to the Southern border and creation of new physical border barriers along the southern border. |
Ongoing as of 2 January 2026 |
|
Border Security – Military Priorities and Planning
|
20 January 2025
|
Executive order ensuring that the U.S. Armed Forces “prioritize the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States along our national borders,” and launching military processes to create and implement plans to deploy Armed Forces personnel to “seal the border” and repel “forms of invasion, including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities.”
|
Ongoing as of 2 January 2026 |
|
Border Security – Designation of Cartels as Terrorist Organizations
|
20 January 2025
|
Executive Order declaring various cartels and other transnational organizations as terrorist organizations, with review of potential organizations and operational preparations to occur within 14 days.
|
On 20 February 2025, the Department of State published notice in the Federal Register identifying Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha, Cartel de Sinaloa, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, Carteles Unidos, Cartel del Noreste, Cartel del Golfo, and La Nueva Familia Michoacana as foreign terrorist organizations pursuant to INA Section 219. Numerous additional organizations have been designated and added to the list during 2025, and the current list can be accessed here.
|
| Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers (Note - H-1B Visa-Related) |
19 September 2025 |
Proclamation signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on 19 September implementing a $100,000 USD fee on new H-1B petitions, among other H-1B-related actions.
More information from WERC on this proclamation can be found here. |
Proclamation signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on 19 September implementing a $100,000 USD fee on new H-1B petitions, among other H-1B-related actions.
More information from WERC on this proclamation can be found here. |
|
The Gold Card
|
19 September 2025
|
Executive order signed by President Trump on 19 September 2025 authorizing the establishment of the Trump Gold Card that will create an eligibility pathway for a U.S. immigrant visa for individuals for whom an unrestricted gift is paid to the U.S. Government ($1 million USD in the case of an individual providing gift and $2 million USD in the case of companies providing gift on behalf of an individual.
With submission of the gift, the EO stipulates that the Departments of State and Homeland Security would treat the gift as evidence of exceptional business ability and national benefit and of eligibility for a national interest waiver under statues within 8 U.S.C. 1153(b).
|
EO requires Commerce, State, and Homeland Security Departments to determine pathway and “take all necessary and appropriate steps to implement the Gold Card program” within 90 days.
In November 2025, USCIS submitted to OMB a draft I-140G form to be used in conjunction with applications for the Gold Card program. Additional steps are anticipated before the end of the year related to the Gold Card by various agencies.
|