The United States President Donald Trump threatened to put visa sanctions on countries that refuse or delay to accept people returned from the U.S. due to concerns over the coronavirus, reported Reuters.
In a memorandum to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released on Friday, Trump cited the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the need to ensure that countries accept their citizens returning from the U.S.
“Countries that deny or unreasonably delay the acceptance of their citizens, subjects, nationals, or residents from the United States during the ongoing pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 create unacceptable public health risks for Americans,” Trump noted in the memorandum. “The United States must be able to effectuate the repatriation of foreign nationals who violate the laws of the United States.”
According to the memorandum, the Secretary of State will adopt and initiate a plan to impose visa sanctions within 7 days after receipt of a notification from the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The order did not name any countries.
The memorandum also states that sanctions that have been imposed may cease to apply if the Secretary of Homeland Security notifies the Secretary of State that a foreign country has resumed accepting aliens without unreasonable delay.
The memorandum to impose visa sanctions is set to cease to apply on 31 December 2020, unless extended.
The Trump government implemented new border rules on March 21, citing the coronavirus pandemic. Under those rules, the authorities can quickly remove people without standard immigration proceedings. According to a Reuters report, the U.S. border officials have already expelled nearly 7,000 migrants to Mexico since the new procedures took effect.
Notably, one of Trump’s administration’s central goals is to restrict immigration in the country. Last month, the United States suspended all routine immigrant and non-immigrant visa services in most of the countries due to coronavirus outbreak.
