On May 8, 2019, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 13871, titled “Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sections of Iran.” The Executive Order was published in the Federal Register (FR) at 84 FR 20761 (May 10, 2019) [PDF version]. In this post, we will examine a brief provision of the Executive Order 13871 which deals with immigration law.
Section 5 of the Executive Order provides that “[t]he unrestricted immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the United States of aliens determined to meet one or more of the criteria in subsection 1(a) of this order would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, and the entry of such persons into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, is therefore hereby suspended.”
President Trump made the determination that the entry of aliens described in subsection 1(a) of Executive Order 13871 “would be detrimental to the interests of the United States…” Under section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) [see article], the President has the authority to “suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants” upon his determination that such entry “would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.” President Trump provided in the instant Executive Order that “[s]uch persons shall be treated as persons covered by section 1 of Proclamation 8693 of July 24, 2011…” President Barack Obama issued Proclamation 8693, titled “Suspension of Entry of Aliens Subject to United Nations Security Council Travel Bans and International Emergency Economic Powers Act Sanctions,” to in part define certain classes of aliens subject to a suspension of entry under section 212(f) of the INA [76 FR 44751 (Jul. 27, 2011)]. Section 1 of Proclamation 8693 suspended the entry of certain aliens.
President Trump’s instant Executive Order suspends the entry of aliens “described in section 1(a)” of his Order. In order to be described in section 1(a) of the Executive Order, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, must determine the alien (quoted):
(i) to be operating in the iron, steel, aluminum, or copper sector of Iran, or to be a person that owns, controls, or operates an entity that is part of the iron, steel, aluminum, or copper sector of Iran;
(ii) to have knowingly engaged, on or after the date of this order, in a significant transaction for the sale, supply, or transfer to Iran of significant goods or services used in connection with the iron, steel, aluminum, or copper sectors of Iran;
(iii) to have knowingly engaged, on or after the date of this order, in a significant transaction for the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of iron, iron products, aluminum, aluminum products, steel, steel products, copper, or copper products from Iran;
(iv) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of any person whose property and interests in property or blocked pursuant to this section; or
(v) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this section.
Section (1)(b) of the Executive Order provides that “[t]he prohibitions … apply except to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted before the date of this order.”
The entry restrictions in Executive Order 13871 are ancillary to the financial sanctions for covered individuals. They ensure that aliens subject to financial sanctions will also be barred from entering the United States. Although the Executive Order targets Iran’s metals sector, the entry restrictions would affect any alien engaged in prohibited business activities with Iranian entities, not only Iranians. The vast majority of Iranians are already subject to a separate section 212(f) proclamation issued by President Trump in September 2017 [see article].
Notwithstanding any foreign law, aliens who engage in prohibited business activities with Iran will be banned from entering the United States upon a determination by the Secretary of Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State. Those with case-specific questions should seek legal guidance on how the new sanctions against Iran may affect them. Those with immigration-specific questions should consult with an experienced immigration attorney.
