As Pressure Mounts, Biden Signs Executive Order to Deter Wrongful Detention of Americans Abroad

WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday aimed at deterring and punishing wrongful detention of U.S. citizens abroad by authorizing government agencies to impose sanctions and other measures.

The move came amid growing pressure on Biden from families of hostages and detainees, most recently on the case of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who has been held in Russia since February and is on trial on drug charges.

But some families said the order achieved little in concrete terms. They lambasted the administration for not allowing them to ask questions during a Monday video call previewing the action while saying Washington still lacked a solid strategy on how to bring their loved ones home.

The plight of American detainees has gained visibility after Griner’s arrest and the recent release of former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed in a prisoner swap with Russia at a time when U.S. relations with Moscow are at their worst in decades over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, looks on, on the day of a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, Russia, on July 15, 2022. (Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters) U.S. ex-marine Trevor Reed, charged with attacking police, stands inside a defendants’ cage during his verdict hearing at Moscow’s Golovinsky district court on July 30, 2020. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images)

The United States does not provide an official figure for how many U.S. citizens are detained abroad, but the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, named after an American journalist abducted and killed in Syria, says that more than 60 U.S. citizens are wrongfully detained in about 18 countries.

Some are held by top U.S. adversaries such as Iran, Russia, Venezuela, and China.

Biden was “committed to getting

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