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Executive Order 12853 Revoked ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.06) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 12853—Blocking Government of Haiti Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Haiti

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Wednesday, June 30, 1993
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5 min read (1,057 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 5 min read (1,057 words) • ● Revoked
🎯 Primary Mandate

The following are prohibited, notwithstanding the existence of any rights or obligations conferred or imposed by any international agreement or any contract entered into or any license or permit granted before the effective date of this order, except to the extent provided in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses which may hereafter be issued pursuant to this order: (a) The sale or supply, by United States persons, or from the United States, or using U.S.-registered vessels or aircraft, of petroleum or petroleum products or arms and related materiel of all types, including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, police equipment and spare parts for the aforementioned, regardless of origin, to any person or entity…

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President William J. Clinton on June 30, 1993, this order concerns Blocking Government of Haiti Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Haiti. Except to the extent provided in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses which may hereafter be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding the existence of any rights or obligations conferred or imposed by any international agreement or any contract entered into or any license or permit granted before the effective date of this order, all property and interests in property of the Government of Haiti…

Constitutional Assessment: Scrutinized through Article II, Section 2, this action exercises the President's constitutional role as Commander in Chief. Early Framers recognized broad executive discretion in commanding military forces during conflict, provided it remains bounded by congressional declarations and respects civilian domestic courts.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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The following are prohibited, notwithstanding the existence of any rights or obligations conferred or imposed by any international agreement or any contract entered into or any license or permit granted before the effective date of this order, except to the extent provided in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses which may hereafter be issued pursuant to this order: (a) The sale or supply, by United States persons, or from the United States, or using U.S.-registered vessels or aircraft, of petroleum or petroleum products or arms and related materiel of all types, including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, police equipment and spare parts for the aforementioned, regardless of origin, to any person or entity…

▪

The exemption for exportation from the United States to Haiti of rice, beans, sugar, wheat flour, and cooking oil in section 2(c)(iii) of Executive Order No. 12779 shall not apply to exportations in which either the de facto regime in Haiti or any person identified by the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to section 2 of this order is a direct or indirect party.

▪

The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to me by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the United Nations Participation Act, as may be necessary to carry out the purpose of this order.

▪

The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate any of these functions to other officers and agencies of the United States Government, all agencies of which are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order, including suspension or termination of licenses or other authorizations in effect as of the date of this order.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities
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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight)
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"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)

Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.

Madisonian Stance: Vigilant / Cautionary
AH

Alexander Hamilton

The Energetic Executive & Unified Command

"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)

Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.

Hamiltonian Stance: Strong Prerogative Support
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)

The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.

Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions

An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
62 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

High Friction

Invokes broad unilateral or emergency executive authorities that test the constitutional boundary of the Take Care Clause.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

Moderate Friction

Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

High Friction

Scrutinized under the Bill of Rights for potential impact on private contracts, property rights, or procedural due process.

Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Moderate Friction

The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.

Benchmark: Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.

Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
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How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
1,057
6,483 characters
Estimated Read Time
5 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
19.2
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.06
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), section 5 of the United Nations Participation Act of 1945, as amended (22 U.S.C. 287c), and section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, in view of United Nations Security Council Resolution No. 841 of June 16, 1993, and in order to take additional steps with respect to the actions and policies of the de facto regime in Haiti and the national emergency described and declared in Executive Order No. 12775, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States of America, hereby order:

Section 1. #sec-1

Except to the extent provided in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses which may hereafter be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding the existence of any rights or obligations conferred or imposed by any international agreement or any contract entered into or any license or permit granted before the effective date of this order, all property and interests in property of the Government of Haiti and the de facto regime in Haiti, or controlled directly or indirectly by the Government of Haiti or the de facto regime in Haiti, or by entities, wherever located or organized, owned or controlled by the Government of Haiti or the de facto regime in Haiti, that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons, including their overseas branches, are blocked.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

Except to the extent provided in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses which may hereafter be issued pursuant to this order, all property and interests in property of any Haitian national providing substantial financial or material contributions to the de facto regime in Haiti, or doing substantial business with the de facto regime in Haiti, as identified by the Secretary of the Treasury, that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons, including their overseas branches, are blocked.

Sec. 3. #sec-3

The following are prohibited, notwithstanding the existence of any rights or obligations conferred or imposed by any international agreement or any contract entered into or any license or permit granted before the effective date of this order, except to the extent provided in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses which may hereafter be issued pursuant to this order: (a) The sale or supply, by United States persons, or from the United States, or using U.S.-registered vessels or aircraft, of petroleum or petroleum products or arms and related materiel of all types, including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, police equipment and spare parts for the aforementioned, regardless of origin, to any person or entity in Haiti or to any person or entity for the purpose of any business carried on in or operated from Haiti, and any activities by United States persons or in the United States which promote or are calculated to promote such sale or supply; (b) The carriage on U.S.-registered vessels of petroleum or petroleum products, or arms and related materiel of all types, including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, police equipment and spare parts for the aforementioned, regardless of origin, with entry into, or with the intent to enter, the territory or territorial sea of Haiti; (c) Any transaction by any United States person that evades or avoids, or has the purpose of evading or avoiding, or attempts to violate, any of the prohibitions set forth in this order.

Sec. 4. #sec-4

The exemption for exportation from the United States to Haiti of rice, beans, sugar, wheat flour, and cooking oil in section 2(c)(iii) of Executive Order No. 12779 shall not apply to exportations in which either the de facto regime in Haiti or any person identified by the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to section 2 of this order is a direct or indirect party.

Sec. 5. #sec-5

For the purposes of this order: (a) The term "Haitian national" means a citizen of Haiti, wherever located; an entity or body organized under the laws of Haiti; and any other person, entity, or body located in Haiti and engaging in the importation, storage, or distribution of products or commodities controlled by sanctions imposed on Haiti pursuant to resolutions adopted either by the United Nations Security Council or the Organization of American States, or otherwise facilitating transactions inconsistent with those sanctions. (b) The definitions contained in section 3 of Executive Order No. 12779 apply to the terms used in this order.

Sec. 6. #sec-6

The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to me by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the United Nations Participation Act, as may be necessary to carry out the purpose of this order. Such actions may include the prohibition or regulation of entry into the United States of any vessel or aircraft which is determined to have been in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution No. 841. The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate any of these functions to other officers and agencies of the United States Government, all agencies of which are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order, including suspension or termination of licenses or other authorizations in effect as of the date of this order.

Sec. 7. #sec-7

Section 4 of Executive Order No. 12775 and sections 2(c) and 4 of Executive Order No. 12779 are hereby revoked to the extent inconsistent with this order. Otherwise, the provisions of this order supplement the provisions of Executive Order No. 12779.

Sec. 8. #sec-8

Nothing contained in this order shall create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable by any party against the United States, its agencies or instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any other person.

Sec. 9. #sec-9

(a) This order is effective immediately. (b) This order shall be transmitted to the Congress and published in the Federal Register. William J. Clinton

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

June 30, 1993.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 12,853 (June 30, 1993), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12853-blocking-government-haiti-property-and-prohibiting-transactions-with.