Three African Nations Among List Of Countries To Stop Being Issued U.S. Visas

The United States has listed four countries in which it plans to stop issuing visas to its citizens.

It says the countries are refusing to accept or are unreasonably delaying the acceptance of nationals deemed to be in the United States illegally. This is a violation of section 243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

The list includes three African countries; Eritrea, Guinea and Sierra Leone with the third country being Cambodia. It is the third time the United States will go through the ‘stop issuing visas’ measure to push forward deportations.

This comes as the United States begins a heavy crackdown on illegal immigration which was a major promise of Donald Trump’s campaign.

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“We follow a standard process to implement a visa suspension as expeditiously as possible in the maer the secretary determines most appropriate under the circumstances to achieve the desired goal. That process includes internal discussions with, and official notification to, affected countries,” said a State Department official to VOA.

Targeted Countries Reactions

Sierra Leone’s ambassador to the United States, Bockarie Kortu Stevens, said his country has cooperated with all deportation orders. He noted that two charter flights operated by the United States have returned 30 to 40 Sierra Leonean nationals since January.

Sierra Leonean embassy officials said they go to holding cells to interview people slated for deportation to confirm their nationalities.

“Once they’ve been identified as bona fide Sierra Leoneans, we issue the relevant travel documents, and it’s up to the United States authorities to affect the deportations,” Stevens said.

According to the State Department, 46 Sierra Leoneans have received deportation orders this year, including 22 criminal deportations. There are currently about 49,000 Sierra Leoneans living in the United States according to Census data.

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Guinea’s ambassador to the United States, Mamady Condé, told VOA’s French to Africa service that his office has not yet received an official notification. He said he only learned of the news through the media.

Without providing a specific time period, Mr. Condé said 75 Guineans have been deported. He added that about 2,000 Guineans live in the United States illegally.

88 Guineans according to State Department figures have received deportation orders.