The U.S. State Department published a notice announcing that the Secretary of State determined—pursuant to President Trump’s January 20, 2025 Executive Order (EO) 14150 on “America First Policy Directive to the Secretary of State”—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” (APA) creating the prospect of federal agencies issuing new immigration and border related regulations without first providing public notice and comment.
In the determination, the Secretary of State asserts that “[s]ecuring America’s borders and protecting its citizens from external threats is the first priority foreign affairs function of the United States. This effort requires the United States to marshal all available resources and authorities.” These resources and authorities include, but are not limited to, those of the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and many other federal agencies.