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Trump Administration Punishes Countries That Refuse to Take Back Deported Citizens - The New York Times

posted onSeptember 14, 2017
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Article snippet: WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has imposed visa sanctions against four countries that have refused to take back citizens who were convicted of crimes in the United States and ordered deported, officials said on Wednesday. The Department of Homeland Security said it notified the State Department that the governments of Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea and Sierra Leone had denied or unreasonably delayed accepting the return of convicts. American diplomats in the countries were ordered to impose visa restrictions, officials said in a statement, but did not say what types of visas would be affected. “International law obligates each country to accept the return of its nationals ordered removed from the United States,” said Elaine Duke, the acting secretary of Homeland Security. “Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea, and Sierra Leone have failed in that responsibility.” Officials said the restrictions would remain in place until the countries cooperate. The issue has been a longstanding problem for officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency charged with deportations. They say other nations will often refuse to issue travel documents or delay providing them. In turn, agency officials said, they are forced to release criminals, including those who have committed assaults and murders, in the United States. A 2001 Supreme Court ruling barred the government from detaining immigrants indefinitely simply for lack of a country willing to take them. The Obama administra... Link to the full article to read more

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