Executive Order 13780: Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States

On January 16, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a report entitled “Executive Order 13780: Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States, Initial Section 11 Report” (the “Report”). Protect Democracy — along with the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law; Benjamin Wittes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the Editor in Chief of Lawfare; Nora Ellingsen, a former Staff Operations Specialist in the Counterterrorism Division of the FBI; and Michael F. Crowley, a Senior Fellow at the Brennan Center and a former Senior Policy Analyst with the Office of Management and Budget — submitted a petition under the Data Quality Act (DQA), which asks DOJ and DHS to retract or correct the Report. (A similar petition was filed on January 29 by Democracy Forward and Muslim Advocates.) Pursuant to the DQA, all federal agencies have adopted guidelines that require them to adhere to certain standards of “quality,” “objectivity,” “utility,” and “integrity” when providing information to the public. The Report falls well short of those standards.

For more information, visit the False Terrorism Report case page.