The Trump administration has decided to revoke all visas held by those with South Sudanese passports, citing the country’s refusal to take back its deported citizens. On Saturday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the move, describing it as part of the administration’s broader push to strengthen immigration enforcement.
“Effective immediately, the United States Department of State is taking actions to revoke all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders and prevent further issuance to prevent entry into the United States by South Sudanese passport holders,” Rubio said in a press statement. The move is the latest in Trump’s attempt to deport illegal immigrants from the US to their countries.
No Tolerance Policy
“Every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner when another country, including the United States, seeks to remove them,” the statement further read. Rubio said that the strict new policy will remain in place unless South Sudan begins cooperating with the Trump administration’s directives.
In a post on X, Rubio further wrote, “Our efforts to engage diplomatically with the South Sudanese Government have been rebuffed.”
“Effective immediately, all visa appointments are cancelled, no new visas will be issued, no existing visas will be effective, and hence NO ONE from South Sudan will be entering the United States on a visa until this matter is resolved,” Rubio concluded in the post.
South Sudan is currently governed by a transitional administration that is working to prevent a full-scale civil war in the Central African country. It remains unclear how many South Sudanese nationals living in the U.S. will be impacted by the visa cancellation.
Unrest in South Sudan
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Earlier this week, peace negotiators gathered in Juba, the nation’s capital, in an attempt to stop the growing conflict that reignited after First Vice President Riek Machar was placed under house arrest.
Machar’s detention followed weeks of violent clashes that began on March 3 between government forces and the White Army militia, which controls a region known as the Upper Nile.
