Overview

• President Trump signed an executive order directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to prioritize prosecutions in cases where flag desecration is tied to other violations such as violent crimes, property damage, or civil-rights offenses.
• The order authorizes the Justice Department to refer incidents to state and local authorities under applicable rules, including open-burning restrictions and public-safety ordinances.
• Noncitizens who desecrate the flag could face immigration consequences, including visa denials or revocations, halted naturalization, loss of other benefits, and potential removal.
• Trump said at the signing, "If you burn a flag, you get one year in jail," even as Supreme Court rulings in Texas v. Johnson (1989) and U.S. v. Eichman (1990) protect flag burning as symbolic speech.
• Civil liberties groups and several conservative commentators criticized the move as unconstitutional, and hours after the signing a man was arrested near the White House for burning a flag, authorities confirmed.