On May 27, 2026, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an interim final rule with request for comments to amend its Foreign Quarantine Regulations. The interim final rule provides a procedure for the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the CDC Director or other delegate, “to suspend the introduction of persons from designated countries or places, if required, in the interest of public health,” including lawful permanent residents (LPRs).
The CDC explained that “[g]iven the complexities of global disease outbreaks, including the current Ebola disease outbreak in the [Democratic Republic of the Congo], Uganda and South Sudan, the logistics of trying [to] identify cases at the numerous ports of entry (POE) of the United States (air, land, and sea), and the fact that there are no approved vaccines or specific antiviral treatments for this strain of Ebola disease, CDC needs a more efficient regulatory mechanism to exercise its section 362 authority and suspend the introduction of persons other than U.S. Citizens and U.S. Nationals who would otherwise pose a serious danger of introduction of Ebola disease into the United States.”
The CDC noted that travelers using air transit pathways originating in or passing through DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan “include non-U.S. citizens, foreign contract workers, humanitarian personnel, business travelers, students, refugees, and third-country nationals moving through international aviation hubs in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Many travelers entering U.S.-bound itineraries from these pathways may do so under temporary visas, refugee or asylum processing mechanisms, international organizational travel, or multi country itineraries that obscure their original point of departure.” Restricting the entry of LPRs, “in addition to other non-U.S. citizens, who originate from or have recently traveled through DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan would reduce the volume of higher-risk international arrivals requiring public health monitoring and follow-up,” the CDC said.
The CDC also noted that the suspension authority is also critical due to risks of other “quarantinable” communicable diseases. The interim rule mentions Andes virus, Hantavirus, and pandemic influenza as examples. CDC said it expects to mitigate the risk in the future by issuing a final rule, after considering comments, “to implement a permanent regulatory structure regarding the potential suspension of introduction of persons, including LPRs, into the United States in the event a serious danger of the introduction of a quarantinable communicable disease arises in the future.”
Comments must be received by June 26, 2026.
