US cancels all South Sudan visas due to country's failure to repatriate its citizens
US President Donald Trump's administration has taken aggressive measures to ramp up immigration enforcement, including the repatriation of people deemed to be in the US illegally.
The US said on Saturday it would revoke all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders over South Sudan's failure to accept the return of its repatriated citizens, at a time when many in Africa fear that country could return to civil war.
US President Donald Trump's administration has taken aggressive measures to ramp up immigration enforcement, including the repatriation of people deemed to be in the US illegally.
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The administration has warned that countries that do not swiftly take back their citizens will face consequences, including visa sanctions or tariffs.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said South Sudan had failed to respect the principle that every country must accept the return of its citizens on time when another country, including the US, seeks to remove them.
"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.
"We will be prepared to review these actions when South Sudan is in full cooperation," Rubio said.
He added that it is time for South Sudan's transitional government to "stop taking advantage of the United States".
South Sudan's embassy in Washington did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
African Union mediators arrived in South Sudan's capital Juba last week for talks aimed at averting a new civil war in the country after its First Vice President Riek Machar was placed under house arrest.
South Sudan President Salva Kiir's government has accused Machar, a long-time rival who led rebel forces during a 2013-2018 war that killed hundreds of thousands, of trying to stir up a new rebellion.
Machar's detention followed weeks of fighting in the northern Upper Nile state between the military and the White Army militia. Machar's forces were allied with the White Army during the civil war but deny any current links.
The 2013-2018 war was contested largely along ethnic lines, with fighters from the Dinka, the country's largest group, lining up behind Kiir and those from the Nuer, the second-largest group, supporting Machar.
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