US revokes all South Sudan visas, bars future issuance until deportees accepted…State Department says South Sudan ‘taking advantage’ of US
I am taking actions to revoke all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders and to restrict any further issuance to prevent entry into the United States, effective immediately, due to the failure of South Sudan’s transitional government to accept the return of its repatriated…
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) April 5, 2025
CLOSED OFF: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. will revoke visas for South Sudanese passport holders and will not issue new ones, effective immediately, citing the African nation’s “failure’ to take back citizens in a “timely manner.” pic.twitter.com/veBDvquM6G
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 6, 2025
The U.S. 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.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has taken aggressive measures to ramp up immigration enforcement, including the repatriation of people deemed to be in the U.S. illegally.
The administration has warned that countries that do not swiftly take back their citizens will face consequences, including visa sanctions or tariffs.
South Sudan had failed to respect the principle that every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner when another country, including the U.S., seeks to remove them, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
“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.
It is time for South Sudan’s transitional government to “stop taking advantage of the United States,” he said.
South Sudan’s embassy in Washington did not respond immediately to a request for comment.