State Department explains visa revocations, cites South Sudan noncooperation; declines to detail individual cases

The State Department said Tuesday that visa revocations occur routinely to protect U.S. security and that it has revoked some visas held by South Sudanese passport holders after the South Sudanese transitional government initially failed to accept a returnee.

Tammy (State Department spokesperson) told reporters that enforcing immigration laws is important to national security and public safety and that every country must accept the return of its citizens when the United States seeks to remove them. She said the department took actions to revoke visas and restrict further issuance to South Sudanese passport holders because of that country’s earlier failure to permit entry for an individual the U.S. sought to repatriate.

The spokesperson said South Sudan committed on April 8 to accept the individual and that the department will review its visa restrictions if the government follows through. When asked about recent reports of student visas cancelled with little or no notice, the spokesperson said the department does not discuss individual visa determinations, statistics or the rationale for specific cases because of privacy and operational considerations, but reiterated that visas are revoked daily when necessary.

Reporters asked whether some cancellations were tied to minor offenses such as traffic citations; Tammy said she could not discuss individual cases but noted revocations are performed to secure borders and communities and that the number of revocations is dynamic.