Additional Coverage:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Saturday that the United States will immediately revoke all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders and will not issue any new ones. This action, according to a statement posted on X, is due to the South Sudanese transitional government’s failure to timely repatriate its citizens.
The State Department echoed this sentiment in its own statement, asserting that South Sudan’s government must “stop taking advantage” of the U.S. The statement emphasized the importance of national security and public safety, stating that all countries have a responsibility to accept the return of their citizens when requested by another nation. The visa restrictions will remain in place until South Sudan fully cooperates.
Rubio’s announcement comes as South Sudan faces escalating armed conflict, mass displacement, and severe food insecurity, pushing the East African nation towards the brink of civil war. This also follows the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan’s suspension of visa and other consular services in April 2023.
This decision follows a trend of stricter immigration policies. In February, the Trump administration ended deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoking the protected status of over 300,000 nationals. Since then, the Trump administration has deported over 100,000 migrants.
Neither the South Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation nor the United Nations South Sudan mission offered comment at the time of this report.