Clarifying the Military's Role in Protecting the Territorial Integrity of the United States

Executive Order 14167 of January 20, 2025

Clarifying the Military's Role in Protecting the
Territorial Integrity of the United States

By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. Purpose. (a) As Chief Executive and as
Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United
States, I have no more solemn responsibility than
protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
the United States along our national borders. The
protection of a nation's territorial integrity and
national boundaries is paramount for its security.

    (b) The Armed Forces of the United States have
played a long and well-established role in securing our
borders against threats of invasion, against unlawful
forays by foreign nationals into the United States, and
against other transnational criminal activities that
violate our laws and threaten the peace, harmony, and
tranquility of the Nation. These threats have taken a
variety of forms over our Nation's history, but the
Armed Forces have consistently played an integral role
in protecting the sovereignty of the United States.
    (c) Threats against our Nation's sovereignty
continue today, and it is essential that the Armed
Forces staunchly continue to participate in the defense
of our territorial integrity and sovereignty. A
National Emergency currently exists along the southern
border of the United States. Unchecked unlawful mass
migration and the unimpeded flow of opiates across our
borders continue to endanger the safety and security of
the American people and encourage further lawlessness.
Accordingly, through this order, I am acting in
accordance with my solemn duty to protect and defend
the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United
States along our national borders.

Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States
to ensure that the Armed Forces of the United States
prioritize the protection of the sovereignty and
territorial integrity of the United States along our
national borders.

Sec. 3. Implementation. The Secretary of Defense shall:

    (a) No later than 10 days from the effective date
of this order, deliver to the President a revision to
the Unified Command Plan that assigns United States
Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) the mission to seal the
borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial
integrity, and security of the United States by
repelling forms of invasion including unlawful mass
migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and
trafficking, and other criminal activities.
    (b) On the effective date of this order, add the
following requirements to the Contingency Planning
Guidance and Guidance for the Employment of the Force:

(i) A Level 3 planning requirement for USNORTHCOM to seal the borders and
maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United
States by repelling forms of invasion, including unlawful mass migration,
narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal
activities, with a commander's estimate due to the Secretary of Defense
within 30 days of the effective date of this order.

(ii) A campaign planning requirement for USNORTHCOM to provide steady-state
southern border security, seal the border, and maintain the

sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States by
repelling forms of invasion, including unlawful mass migration, narcotics
trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal
activities.

(iii) Continuous assessments of all available options to protect the
sovereign territory of the United States from mass unlawful entry and
impingement on our national sovereignty and security by foreign nations and
transnational criminal organizations.

Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
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 order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
    (c) This order 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.

    (Presidential Sig.)

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    January 20, 2025.