Secretary of State Marco Rubio published a notice on March 14, 2025, that includes a statement dated February 21, 2025, reiterating that the Department of State’s (DOS) foreign affairs purview includes “all policy related to the protection and travel of U.S. citizens overseas, visa operations and visa issuance, implementation of the Arms Export Control Act, and implementation of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961.”
The notice further declares 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].” This effectively constitutes an expansion to other federal agencies of the exemption of these “foreign affairs” functions from the APA’s requirements.
Commenters noted that this determination could have significant effects on rulemaking and adjudications of several agencies. For example, NAFSA said this means that agencies such as DOS and the Departments of Homeland Security and Labor could issue new immigration and border-related regulations without notice and comment; make legal challenges based on APA violations more difficult; and potentially reduce transparency in immigration-related adjudications, including removal proceedings.