Executive Order 14385 explained · Executive Order · No disposition noted
Protecting the National Security and Welfare of the United States and Its Citizens From Criminal Actors and Other Public Safety Threats
Signed: 2026-02-06 Published: 2026-02-11 Federal Register document: 2026-02819
Agencies: Executive Office of the President
What Executive Order 14385 says
Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 28 (Wednesday, February 11, 2026) [Federal Register Volume 91, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 11, 2026)] [Presidential Documents] [Pages 6505-6506] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2026-02819] Presidential Documents Federal Register / Vol. 91 , No. 28 / Wednesday, February 11, 2026 / Presidential Documents [[Page 6505]] Executive Order 14385 of February 6, 2026 Protecting the National Security and Welfare of the United States and Its Citizens From Criminal Actors and Other Public Safety Threats By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including 6 U.S.C. 122(a)(2), it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to protect its welfare and security, and the welfare and security of its citizens, from criminal actors. Such criminal actors may include foreign nationals with criminal histories who have entered or remained in the United States in violation of the immigration laws of the United States or who otherwise seek to violate the criminal laws of the United States. It is also the policy of the United States to cooperate with trusted foreign governments by sharing information concerning convicted felons on a reciprocal basis for border security and immigration purposes. The Department...
Opening of the official text; read it in full in the Federal Register.
Constitution Index
“VFA Constitution grade”
Constitutionally sound
Graded 2026-10-08
SI-generated grade · five published checks · not individually reviewed by a person · methodology
Executive Order 14385 operates within federal immigration, border-security, and foreign-affairs powers, uses existing conviction records with privacy safeguards, and imposes no new rights restriction, liberty deprivation, or property taking.
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✓ Passes · Enumerated powers
The President acts under Article II, Sections 2 and 3 executive and Commander-in-Chief authority over immigration enforcement and foreign affairs, implementing Congressional grants including Article I, Section 8, Clause 4 power over naturalization and Clause 3 and Clause 10 related border authority, plus 6 U.S.C. 122(a)(2). Inter-agency CHRI access and reciprocal border-security agreements are wit… -
✓ Passes · Bill of Rights
No First through Tenth Amendment right is infringed. Sharing of existing federal criminal history record information (CHRI) for screening is not an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment because the records are already lawfully in government custody, and Section 3(b) requires privacy safeguards consistent with applicable law. No speech, arms, trial, or other Bill of Rights restriction occu… -
✓ Passes · Individual sovereignty
No restriction is placed on the person, property, speech, labor, or belief of law-abiding individuals. The order directs use of already existing convicted-felon records for screening travelers and immigrants, with use limited to border and immigration screening and privacy safeguards for United States persons. The burden on ordinary liberty is minimal with a compelling national-security justificat… -
✓ Passes · Decentralization
Border security, immigration screening, and reciprocal foreign information agreements cannot be handled by individuals, localities, or states acting alone without creating fragmented foreign policy. The Tenth Amendment reserves undelegated powers to states, but immigration, naturalization, and foreign intercourse are delegated federal functions, so federal administration at the minimum necessary l… -
✓ Passes · Due process and takings
No person is deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process under the Fifth Amendment, and no property is taken for public use without just compensation. The order authorizes information access and reciprocal exchange only to the maximum extent permitted by law and creates no new penalty, detention, or forfeiture. General Provisions require implementation consistent with applicable law…
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