Donald Trump signed an executive order Jan. 25 directing the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to enforce already existing sanctions against countries refusing to allow people deported from America to return to their native homes.
The order specifically directs the two departments to withhold visas from countries that refuse to take their immigrants back.
This is laid out in Sec. 12 of the order. It reads:
Recalcitrant Countries. The Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State shall cooperate to effectively implement the sanctions provided by section 243(d) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1253(d)), as appropriate. The Secretary of State shall, to the maximum extent permitted by law, ensure that diplomatic efforts and negotiations with foreign states include as a condition precedent the acceptance by those foreign states of their nationals who are subject to removal from the United States.
The secretary of state is already required by law to stop giving visas to immigrants or nonimmigrants after being notified the country is hindering the accepting of one of its citizens, according to Section 243(d) of INA (8 U.S.C. 1253(d)).
Yet according to the New York Times, that's only happened once — in 2001 against the nation of Guyana.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote a letter in June to Jeh Johnson, then-secretary of Homeland Security, encouraging the department to start enforcing the already existing sanctions.
"As the person in charge of protecting the homeland and overseeing our country's visa policies, I strongly urge you to consider using section 243(d) against the recalcitrant countries to compel them to start cooperating with ICE," reads a line of the letter.
In his letter, Grassley also mentioned a document from ICE, which outlines a speech from deputy director Daniel Ragsdale. According to the document, as of May 2, 2016, ICE documented 23 countries that are considered "recalcitrant" in taking back their citizens. The list includes Afghanistan, Algeria, China, Cuba, Iraq, Libya, Somalia and Zimbabwe.
In the past, administrations have not enforced the sanctions included Section 243(d) so, the real test of Trump's order will depend on if an existing law is enforced more over the next four years. For now, we rate this promise In the Works.