The U.S. has canceled all visas for individuals holding South Sudan passports and barred new arrivals, stated Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday, noting that African nations are refusing to welcome citizens expelled from the U.S.
The State Department “is implementing measures to revoke all visas possessed by South Sudan passport holders and halt further issuance to prevent intrusion,” Rubio mentioned in a statement.
This marks the first instance of specifically targeting all passport holders from a specific nation since Donald Trump returned to the presidency on January 20th with a focus on anti-immigration policies.
Rubio accused the transitional government in Juba of “exploiting the U.S.,” asserting, “When other nations seek to remove individuals, all nations must allow the prompt return of their citizens.”
Rubio added that Washington is “prepared to reassess these actions when South Sudan fully complies.”
South Sudan, among the newest and poorest nations globally, is currently facing rising tensions among its political leaders.
Some analysts are concerned about a potential resurgence of civil war that claimed 400,000 lives between 2013 and 2018.
Citizens from South Sudan were granted “Temporary Protected Status” (TPS) under the previous administration of Joe Biden, set to expire on May 3, 2025.
The U.S. grants TPS to protect individuals from deportation to their home countries when they cannot return safely due to war, natural disasters, or other “extraordinary” circumstances.
According to the Department of Homeland Security as of September 2023, approximately 133 South Sudanese individuals are currently in the U.S. under the TPS program, with an additional 140 eligible to apply.
However, the Trump administration began reversing the TPS designation, stripping protections from over 600,000 Venezuelans in January.
This week, a federal judge temporarily halted the decision after questioning the government’s assertion that most Venezuelans in the U.S. are criminals.
As reported by the Pew Research Center, as of March 2024, there were 1.2 million individuals in the U.S. who were either eligible for TPS or received it, with Venezuelans comprising the largest group.
The Trump administration’s measures regarding South Sudan coincided with a rise in the number of Africans attempting to cross into the U.S. via the southern border as an alternative to perilous routes to Europe.
