The U.S. State Department announced on Saturday night that it will be revoking all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders after the East African country refused to cooperate with U.S. deportation efforts.
In a brief statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said since South Sudan has not accepted the return of its citizens from the United States in a “timely manner,” the State Department “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,” effective immediately.
Rubio added that such restrictions would be reviewed if South Sudan cooperated with accepting its citizens.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau explained the restrictions in a post on X detailing the State Department’s decision.
“The [State Department] under [Secretary Rubio] has suspended ALL visas from South Sudan. 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,” Landau said.
He elaborated on the decision to revoke visas, which was made because South Sudan refused “to accept one of their nationals certified by their own Embassy in Washington and repatriated to their country,” and after the U.S.’s efforts to “engage diplomatically with the South Sudanese Government” were rejected.
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Both Rubio and Landau affirmed the importance of upholding the U.S.’s immigration laws, while Rubio accused the “Transitional Government of South Sudan” of taking advantage of the U.S.
South Sudan is on the verge of a civil war after one of the country’s vice presidents was arrested in the capital city of Juba, effectively ending a 2018 peace agreement supported by the U.S.
