Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 18 / Wednesday, January 29, 2025 / Presidential Documents 8333 

Proclamation 10888 of January 20, 2025 

Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the 

laws of the United States of America, I hereby proclaim: 

An essential feature of any sovereign nation is the existence of territorial 

boundaries and the inherent authority to decide who and what may cross 

those boundaries. The Supreme Court of the United States has described 

this power as a ‘‘fundamental act of sovereignty,’’ which ‘‘stems not alone 

from legislative power but is inherent in the executive power to control 

the foreign affairs of the nation.’’ U.S. ex rel. Knauff v. Shaughnessy, 338 

U.S. 537, 542 (1950). The Supreme Court has recognized the inherent right 

and duty of the Executive Branch to defend our national sovereignty, stating 

that ‘‘[w]hen Congress prescribes a procedure concerning the admissibility 

of aliens, it is not dealing alone with a legislative power. It is implementing 

an inherent executive power.’’ Id. 

The Congress has, in establishing ‘‘an uniform Rule of Naturalization,’’ created a complex and comprehensive Federal scheme in the Immigration and 

Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq., to control the entry and exit 

of people and goods across the borders of the United States. In routine 

circumstances, this complex and comprehensive scheme can protect the 

national sovereignty of the United States by facilitating the admission of 

individuals whose presence serves the national interest and preventing the 

admission of those who do not, such as those aliens who pose threats 

to public health, section 212(a)(1) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(1); safety, 

section 212(a)(2) (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)); and national security, section 212(a)(3) 

(8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)). Prospective immigrants who use the visa system are 

screened for such health, safety, and security concerns while outside of 

the United States, and are not permitted to enter the United States until 

they establish that they are eligible to be admitted as a matter of law 

and should be admitted as a matter of discretion. 

But screening under those provisions of the INA can be wholly ineffective 

in the border environment, where access to necessary information is limited 

for aliens who have traveled from countries around the world to enter 

the United States illegally, or when the system is overwhelmed, leading 

to the unauthorized entry of innumerable illegal aliens into the United 

States. 

Due to significant information gaps—particularly in the border environment— 

and processing times, Federal officials do not have the ability to verify 

with certainty the criminal record or national-security risks associated with 

the illegal entry of every alien at the southern border, as required by section 

212(a)(2)–(3) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)–(3). Nor do aliens who illegally 

cross the southern border readily provide comprehensive background information from their home countries to Federal law enforcement officials. 

The public safety and national security risks in such an environment are 

heightened by the presence of, and control of territory by, international 

cartels and other transnational criminal organizations on the other side 

of the southern border, as well as terrorists and other malign actors who 

intend to harm the United States and the American people. And the risks 


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associated with these issues are greatly exacerbated when the number of 

aliens illegally crossing the southern border increases to levels that prevent 

actual operational control of the border. 

The same is true for public health, where the Federal Government currently 

lacks an effective operational capability to screen all illegal aliens crossing 

the southern border for communicable diseases of public-health concern, 

as required by section 212(a)(1) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(1). Effectively 

no aliens who illegally enter the United States provide Federal officials 

at the southern border with their comprehensive health information, as 

a lawful immigrant would. As a result, innumerable aliens potentially carrying communicable diseases of public health significance illegally cross 

the southern border and enter communities across the United States. 

Over the last 4 years, at least 8 million illegal aliens were encountered 

along the southern border of the United States, and countless millions more 

evaded detection and illegally entered the United States. The sheer number 

of aliens entering the United States has overwhelmed the system and rendered many of the INA’s provisions ineffective, including those previously 

described that are intended to prevent aliens posing threats to public health, 

safety, and national security from entering the United States. As a result, 

millions of aliens who potentially pose significant threats to health, safety, 

and national security have moved into communities nationwide. 

This ongoing influx of illegal aliens across the southern border of the United 

States has placed significant costs and constraints upon the States, which 

have collectively spent billions of dollars in providing medical care and 

related human services, and have spent considerable amounts on increased 

law enforcement costs associated with the presence of these illegal aliens 

within their boundaries. 

In joining the Union, the States agreed to surrender much of their sovereignty 

and join the Union in exchange for the Federal Government’s promise in 

Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution, to ‘‘protect each of [the 

States] against Invasion.’’ I have determined that the current state of the 

southern border reveals that the Federal Government has failed in fulfilling 

this obligation to the States and hereby declare that an invasion is ongoing 

at the southern border, which requires the Federal Government to take 

measures to fulfill its obligation to the States. 

The INA provides the President with certain emergency tools. For example, 

it states that ‘‘[w]henever the President finds that the entry of any aliens 

or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to 

the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such 

period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any 

class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry 

of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.’’ 8 U.S.C. 1182(f). 

This statute ‘‘exudes deference to the President in every clause.’’ Trump 

v. Hawaii, 585 U.S. 667, 684 (2018). Further, the INA renders it unlawful 

for ‘‘any alien to depart from or enter or attempt to depart from or enter 

the United States except under such reasonable rules, regulations, and orders, 

and subject to such limitations and exceptions as the President may prescribe.’’ 8 U.S.C. 1185(a)(1). 

Historically, Presidents have used these statutory authorities to deny entry 

of designated classes and categories of aliens into the United States through 

ports of entry. But if the President has the power to deny entry of any 

alien into the United States, and to impose any restrictions as he may 

deem appropriate, this authority necessarily includes the right to deny the 

physical entry of aliens into the United States and impose restrictions on 

access to portions of the immigration system, particularly when the number 

of aliens illegally crossing the southern border prevents the Federal Government from obtaining operational control of the border. 

The INA does not, however, occupy the Federal Government’s field of authority to protect the sovereignty of the United States, particularly in times 


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of emergency when entire provisions of the INA are rendered ineffective 

by operational constraints, such as when there is an ongoing invasion into 

the States. The President’s inherent powers to control the borders of the 

United States, including those deriving from his authority to control the 

foreign affairs of the United States, necessarily include the ability to prevent 

the physical entry of aliens involved in an invasion into the United States, 

and to rapidly repatriate them to an alternative location. Only through 

such measures can the President guarantee the right of each State to be 

protected against invasion. 

By the power vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United 

States, I have determined that the current situation at the southern border 

qualifies as an invasion under Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution 

of the United States. Accordingly, I am issuing this Proclamation based 

on my express and inherent powers in Article II of the Constitution of 

the United States, and in faithful execution of the immigration laws passed 

by the Congress, and suspending the physical entry of aliens involved in 

an invasion into the United States across the southern border until I determine that the invasion has concluded. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Donald J. Trump, President of the United States 

of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the 

laws of the United States of America, including sections 212(f) and 215(a) 

of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a), and section 301 of title 3, United 

States Code, hereby direct as follows: 

Section 1. Suspension of Entry. I hereby proclaim, pursuant to sections 

212(f) and 215(a) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a), that the entry 

into the United States on or after the date of this order of aliens engaged 

in the invasion across the southern border is detrimental to the interests 

of the United States. I therefore direct that entry into the United States 

of such aliens be suspended until I issue a finding that the invasion at 

the southern border has ceased. 

Sec. 2. Imposition of Restrictions on Entry for Aliens Invading the United 

States. I hereby proclaim, pursuant to sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the 

INA, 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a), that aliens engaged in the invasion 

across the southern border of the United States on or after the date of 

this proclamation are restricted from invoking provisions of the INA that 

would permit their continued presence in the United States, including, 

but not limited to, section 208 of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1158, until I issue 

a finding that the invasion at the southern border has ceased. 

Sec. 3. Suspension of and Restriction on Entry for Aliens Posing Public 

Health, Safety, or National Security Risks. I hereby proclaim, pursuant to 

sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a), that 

the entry into the United States, on or after the date of this order, of 

any alien who fails, before entering the United States, to provide Federal 

officials with sufficient medical information and reliable criminal history 

and background information as to enable fulfillment of the requirements 

of sections 212(a)(1)–(3) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(1)–(3), is detrimental 

to the interests of the United States. I therefore direct that entry into the 

United States of such aliens be suspended and restrict their access to provisions of the INA that would permit their continued presence in the United 

States, including, but not limited to, section 208 of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 

1158. 

Sec. 4. Constitutional Suspension of Physical Entry. Under the authorities 

provided to me under Article II of the Constitution of the United States, 

including my control over foreign affairs, and to effectuate the guarantee 

of protection against invasion required by Article IV, Section 4, I hereby 

suspend the physical entry of any alien engaged in the invasion across 

the southern border of the United States, and direct the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Secretary of State and the Attorney 

General, to take appropriate actions as may be necessary to achieve the 


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objectives of this proclamation, until I issue a finding that the invasion 

at the southern border has ceased. 

Sec. 5. Operational Actions to Repel the Invasion. The Secretary of Homeland 

Security, in coordination with the Secretary of State and the Attorney General, shall take all appropriate action to repel, repatriate, or remove any 

alien engaged in the invasion across the southern border of the United 

States on or after the date of this order, whether as an exercise of the 

suspension power in section 212(f) and 215(a) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) 

and 1185(a), or as an exercise of my delegated authority under the Constitution of the United States, until I issue a finding that the invasion at the 

southern border has ceased. 

Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this proclamation 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 proclamation shall be implemented consistent with applicable 

law and subject to the availability of appropriations. 

(c) This proclamation 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. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day 

of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the 

Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fortyninth. 

[FR Doc. 2025–01951 

Filed 1–28–25; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3395–F4–P 


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