Foreign Quarantine Suspension of Entry Authority

Current understanding

A CDC final rule amends the Foreign Quarantine Regulations (42 CFR Part 71) to establish a formal procedure under which the HHS Secretary or CDC Director may suspend the introduction of persons from designated countries or places when required to protect public health. The rule creates administrative machinery for entry suspensions on communicable-disease grounds, distinct from immigration-based inadmissibility determinations. Practical effect on affected populations depends on whether and how the authority is invoked; status: final rule.

Evidence log

• 2026-05-21 — Arrival Restrictions Applicable to Flights Carrying Persons Who Have Recently Traveled From or Were Otherwise Present Within the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda, or South Sudan: DHS invoked related public-health entry authority to funnel passenger flights from DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan to designated U.S. airports for enhanced screening, illustrating operational use of the entry-restriction machinery short of a full suspension. (novelty: 2)

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