U.S. State Department

A U.S. State Department designation of an organization as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization" can provide the United States additional legal and political pretext to undertake military actions in and around the nation associated with that organization.

The U.S. State Department maintains a 'Country of Particular Concern' designation to identify countries alleged to have violated religious freedom.

The U.S. State Department designated Nigeria as a "country of particular concern" for alleged systematic violations of religious freedom in 2020, and that designation was lifted in 2023.

The United States designated Nigeria as a 'country of particular concern' for systematic violations of religious freedom in 2020 and removed that designation in 2023.

Stated criteria used in evaluating refugee admissions include assessing whether applicants pose national security risks and whether they can be easily assimilated into U.S. society.

The U.S. State Department's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations applies to foreign groups, and there is no domestic equivalent list partly because of broad First Amendment protections for organizations operating within the United States.

In late 2024 the U.S. State Department imposed a ban prohibiting American government personnel in China, their family members, and contractors with security clearances from engaging in romantic or sexual relationships with Chinese citizens.

As of 2025-10-08 the U.S. State Department stated that it maintains a zero-tolerance policy for employees who are found to undermine U.S. national security.

From January–September 2024, the U.S. State Department spent $306 million on foreign and domestic travel; from January–September 2025, the U.S. State Department spent $212 million on foreign and domestic travel.

Domestic travel spending at the U.S. State Department decreased by about $37 million between January–September 2024 and January–September 2025, with conference attendance accounting for nearly $7 million of that decrease, site visits and consultations within the U.S. decreasing by around $14 million, and domestic special mission travel down around $5.5 million.

Overseas travel spending at the U.S. State Department decreased from about $206 million in January–September 2024 to about $149 million in January–September 2025; site visits and consultations overseas decreased by around $12.5 million and travel for training decreased by around $15 million.

The U.S. government paused issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers in August 2025 to conduct a comprehensive review of screening and vetting protocols used to determine visa qualifications, according to the U.S. State Department.

The U.S. State Department stated that foreign truck drivers can pose risks to American lives, U.S. national security, and U.S. foreign policy interests, and that ensuring high standards for drivers is important for protecting American truckers' livelihoods and maintaining a secure, resilient supply chain.

In April 2025, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget recommended reducing the combined budget of the U.S. State Department and USAID from about $55 billion to about $28.4 billion and recommended cutting funding for humanitarian assistance and global health programs by more than 50%.

In 2025, the U.S. State Department revoked approximately 80,000 nonimmigrant visas, which was more than twice the number revoked in 2024.

More than 8,000 of the nonimmigrant visas revoked by the U.S. State Department in 2025 were student visas.

In 2025, the top crime-related reasons cited by the U.S. State Department for revoking nonimmigrant visas were driving under the influence (more than 16,000 revocations), assault (more than 12,000 revocations), and theft (more than 8,000 revocations); those three categories together accounted for nearly half of revoked visas.

The U.S. State Department identifies grounds for visa revocation to include indicators of an overstay, criminal activity, threats to public safety, engagement in terrorist activity, and providing support to a terrorist organization, and the administration has characterized certain public statements (including criticism of U.S. support for Israel or expressions of support for Palestinians) as potentially falling under its broad definition of support for terrorism.

In 2024, the U.S. State Department's promotion evaluations used five precepts—communication, leadership, management, knowledge, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA)—as criteria to judge employees competing for promotion.

The U.S. State Department's 2022–2025 hiring guidance required foreign service employees to demonstrate impact in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) and asked entry-level applicants to improve self-awareness with respect to promoting inclusivity.

In 2021 China enacted an anti-foreign sanctions law that authorizes Chinese agencies to deny visas and freeze the assets of targeted individuals and businesses, providing powers analogous to those of the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The U.S. State Department designated the National Liberation Army (ELN) as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.

U.S. government passport policy since 1977 has generally prohibited passport applicants from self-selecting their sex designation, with limited exceptions under later administrations.

The U.S. State Department applies a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation to certain groups, classifying them as terrorist organizations under U.S. policy.

A designation of an organization as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the U.S. State Department becomes official when the designation is published in the Federal Register.