President Donald Trump's administration announced it is placing visa restrictions on four countries that are not taking back nationals the United States seeks to deport.
Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea, and Sierra Leone "have denied or unreasonably delayed accepting" their nationals ordered removed from the United States, the Department of Homeland Security said Sept. 13 in a news release.
"International law obligates each country to accept the return of its nationals ordered removed from the United States," said DHS Acting Secretary Elaine Duke. "Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea, and Sierra Leone have failed in that responsibility."
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ordered consular offices in the four countries to implement visa restrictions on certain categories of visa applicants. The sanctions may be expanded or lifted depending on the countries' cooperation.
A 2001 U.S. Supreme Court case, Zadvydas vs. Davis, decided that immigrants with final orders of removal cannot be detained for an indefinite period of time if it's unlikely that they will actually be deported. The United States has not been able to deport nationals from Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea, and Sierra Leone due to lack of travel documents and has been forced to release them into U.S. communities, including some with criminal convictions, DHS said.
Per DHS, these are the restrictions placed on each of the four countries, effective Sept. 13:
Cambodia: discontinued issuance of B visas (temporary visitors for business or pleasure) for Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs employees, with the rank of Director General and above, and their families;
Eritrea: discontinued issuance of all B visas (temporary visitors for business or pleasure);
Guinea: discontinued issuance of B visas (temporary visitors for business or pleasure), and F, J, and M visas (temporary visitors for student and exchange programs) to Guinean government officials and their immediate family members;
Sierra Leone: discontinued issuance of B visas (temporary visitors for business or pleasure) to Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials and immigration officials.
ICE found that as of May 2, 2016, there were 23 countries considered recalcitrant, or who are uncooperative in taking back their nationals. That number has dropped significantly.
As of September 2017, the United States considered 11 countries, as well as Hong Kong, to be recalcitrant, said Tyler Q. Houlton, DHS deputy press secretary.
The 11 countries are: China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Iran, Guinea, Cambodia, Eritrea, Burma, Morocco and South Sudan.
Asked why Sierra Leone was not on the recalcitrant list if it wasn't taking back nationals, Houlton told us the U.S. government regularly works with other countries to improve cooperation and that as a result the list of recalcitrant countries is "fluid."
"ICE's list of recalcitrant countries is one tool to measure compliance — sanctions in response to any country delaying or refusing to accept the return of their nationals can be implemented at any time," Houlton said.
Trump promised to cancel visas to foreign countries that won't take back their nationals. The latest sanctions from his administration are in line with his pledge. We'll continue to monitor the administration's enforcement of sanctions against uncooperative nations. For now, we rate this promise In the Works.