Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced that the US will immediately cancel visas issued to all South Sudan passport holders as the US refused to accept citizens who have been taken away from the US.
Rubio added in a statement on Saturday that arriving citizens from South Sudan, the US’s latest country, will also be blocked at US ports of entry.
He accused South Sudan of “condemning the transitional government of South Sudan for failing to accept the return of repatriated citizens in a timely manner.”
The cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, along with his promise to “massive deportation,” is the elimination of illegal immigrants from the United States.
“This is the time for South Sudan’s transitional government to stop using the US,” Rubio said.
“All countries must accept the return of their citizens in a timely manner when other countries, including the United States, try to remove them,” he added.
It will become terrified that South Sudan will descend into a civil war again.
On March 8, the US ordered all non-emergency staff in South Sudan to leave after regional fighting broke out, threatening a vulnerable peace deal in 2018.
South Sudanese in the US had previously been granted temporary protected status (TPS). This allows the duration to remain in the US.
The TPS in South Sudan, USA, was scheduled to expire by May 3rd.
South Sudan, the world’s newest country, gained independence in 2011 after leaving Sudan.
But just two years later, tensions broke out into the civil war following the rift between President Salva Kir and Vice President Riek Machar, killing more than 400,000 people.
The 2018 Power Shearing Agreement between the two stopped fighting, but no key elements of the deal have been implemented, such as the new constitution, elections, and unification of armed groups into a single army.
Sporadic violence between ethnic and local groups continues in parts of the country.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has been in conflict with international governments over the deportation of its citizens from the United States.
In January, Colombian President Gustavo Peter banned two US military flights carrying deported immigrants to South American countries.
Peter relented after Trump promised Colombia to cripple tariffs and sanctions.
One of the most famous South Sudanese citizens in the United States today is 18-year-old star basketball player from Duke University.
A university spokesperson said on Sunday the school “knows the announcement regarding visa holders from South Sudan.”
“We’re working quickly to investigate the situation and understand the impact on Duke students.”
Last summer, Maulach, who played for the South Sudan Olympic basketball team, spent much of his life in Uganda after fleeing violence in his childhood homeland.
First-year students whose Duke team was removed from the National Championship Tournament on Saturday night after losing in the semi-finals to the University of Houston, are widely expected to join the NBA ranks after graduation.
