US cancels all visas for South Sudanese passport holders
The United States Secretary of State, Senator Marco Rubio, said on Saturday that the US is revoking all visas for South Sudanese passport holders and banning future immigration.The move comes in response to South Sudan’s unwillingness to accept nationals who have been deported from the United States.
“The State Department is taking actions to revoke all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders and prevent further issuance to prevent entry,” Rubio said in a statement.
This represents the first step targeting all passport holders from a certain nation since Donald Trump returned to the White House on January 20, after campaigning on an anti-immigration agenda.
Rubio accused the transitional administration in Juba of “taking advantage of the United States,” claiming that “every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner when another country seeks to remove them.”
"Washington will be prepared to review these actions when South Sudan fully cooperates," Rubio said.
South Sudan, one of the poorest countries, is currently battling with tensions amongst political leaders. Some commentators fear a resumption of the civil war that claimed 400,000 lives between 2013 and 2018.
South Sudanese nationals had been awarded “temporary protected status” (TPS) by the administration of Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, with the designation slated to expire on May 3, 2025.
The United States offers TPS, which shields people against deportation, to foreign citizens who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” events.
The Trump administration has begun to reverse TPS classifications, including withdrawing protection in January for almost 600,000 Venezuelans.
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