Overview

• The order instructs Attorney General Pam Bondi to prioritize cases where flag desecration coincides with violent crimes, property damage, civil-rights violations, or other harms unrelated to expression.
• It extends enforcement to immigration by directing visa revocations, denial of benefits, and potential removal for noncitizens who desecrate the flag.
• The directive relies on federal, state, and local statutes and does not itself create a new crime, even as the president publicly advocates a one-year jail penalty.
• The Justice Department is told to refer incidents to local authorities when applicable and to pursue litigation to test the scope of First Amendment exceptions.
• Hours after the signing, authorities arrested a man near the White House for burning a flag, and civil-liberties groups along with several conservative commentators denounced the order as unconstitutional.