A revocation of all South Sudanese passport holders in the United States may impact Cornell, which has two students from South Sudan enrolled, as of Fall 2024. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that all visas would be revoked on April 5, citing the African nation’s alleged refusal to repatriate its citizens who are subject to deportation.
In response to inquiries about whether the University intends to take legal or diplomatic action on behalf of the South Sudanese individuals affected by the visa revocation, a Cornell spokesperson wrote to the Sun, “We continue to actively monitor this situation and urge all international students to review our March 31 guidance.”
The guidance, shared by Cornell’s Office of Global Learning, advises any student who receives notice of visa revocation to forward the message to International Services at international@cornell.edu. Cornell also encourages students to regularly check the international service website for updates.
Rubio justified the visa revocation by accusing South Sudan of failing to repatriate its citizens who are subject to deportation from the U.S.
“Enforcing our nation’s immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States,” Rubio wrote. “Every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner when another country, including the United States, seeks to remove them.”
Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House on Jan. 20, the sweeping visa revocation marks the first action of its kind targeting an entire nationality.
During his campaign, Trump emphasized hardline immigration policies and has since moved to roll back Temporary Protected Status designations, including those granted for migrants from South Sudan under the Biden administration.
The deportation case at the center of the dispute involved an individual who was initially identified by U.S authorities as a South Sudanese national. However, South Sudan’s foreign ministry later clarified that the person was not from South Sudan, but was a Congolese national named Makula Kintu. South Sudan rejected his deportation, citing the misidentification and sent him back to the U.S for further processing.
“The government deeply regrets that despite a history of cooperation, South Sudan now faces a broad revocation of visas based on an isolated incident,” the ministry said .No formal actions against individual students or employees from South Sudan at Cornell have been reported.
