A draft executive order obtained by The Associated Press shows that President Donald Trump intends to stop accepting Syrian refugees and suspend the United States' broader refugee program for 120 days.
The president also plans to suspend issuing visas for people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen for at least 30 days, according to the draft. All are predominantly Muslim countries.
Trump is expected to sign the order this week. It was not clear if the draft will be revised before then.
The actions would continue Trump's rapid-fire attempts in his first week as president to move forward on signature issues of his campaign: cracking down on illegal immigration and blocking the entry of people from countries where terrorist organisations have a significant presence.
On Wednesday, Trump issued orders aimed at moving ahead with a wall on the Mexican border and blocking federal funds from "sanctuary cities" that protect immigrants.
Trump's draft shows that he will order Homeland Security and State Department officials, along with the director of national intelligence, to review what information the government needs to fully vet would-be visitors and come up with a list of countries that don't provide it.
The order says the government will give countries 60 days to start providing the information or citizens from those countries will be barred from travelling to the United States.
Exceptions would be made for diplomats, NATO visas or those people travelling to work at the United Nations.
During the campaign Trump, said vetting procedures were inadequate and suggested that terrorists could pose as Syrian refugees to infiltrate the United States.
During the Obama administration, vetting for Syrians routinely took years to complete and included in-person interviews overseas, where they provided biographical details about themselves, including their families, friendships, social or political activities, employment, phone numbers, email accounts and more.
They also provided biometric information about themselves, including fingerprints and Syrians are subject to additional, classified controls that administration officials at the time declined to describe.
Word of the planned executive order prompted a fast-growing group of about 150 people outside the White House gates around dusk on Wednesday.
Protesters chanted, "this is what democracy looks like!" They waved banners with messages like, "refugees welcome" and "anti-Muslim(equals)anti-American."
