US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday said that he is 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.
The reason for the move is the failure of South Sudan’s transitional government to accept the return of its repatriated citizens in a timely manner, Rubio said on social media.
“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 citizens in a timely manner,” he wrote.
Rubio also said that the US would “prevent further issuance to prevent entry into the United States by South Sudanese passport holders.”
However, Washington “will be prepared to review these actions when South Sudan is in full cooperation,” Rubio added in a statement.
It was the first such measure to single out all passport holders from a particular country since Donald Trump, who campaigned on an anti-immigration platform, returned to the White House on January 20.
South Sudan on the brink
South Sudan experienced a brutal civil war after it gained independence from its northern neighbor in 2011.
President Salva Kiir and his opponent Vice President Riek Machar formed a transitional government in 2020.
But the transitional government — and a peace deal that largely ended the fighting — is teetering on the brink of collapse after forces loyal to Kiir placed Machar under house arrest last month.
Last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged regional and international leaders to prevent South Sudan from falling “over the abyss” into another civil war.
Trump administration revoking TPS designations
South Sudanese nationals were granted “temporary protected status” (TPS) by the Biden administration, with the designation set to expire on May 3, 2025.
TPS shields people from deportation and is granted to foreign nationals who cannot safely return home due to war, natural disaster, or other “extraordinary” conditions.
There were about 133 South Sudanese people in the United States under the TPS program, with another 140 eligible to apply, according to data provided by the Department of Homeland Security in 2023
But the Trump administration has begun rescinding TPS designations, revoking protections for more than 600,000 Venezuelans in January.
Edited by: Zac Crellin
