Thread: Gambia refuses to accept 2,000 people the U.S. trying to deport

Gambia refuses to accept 2,000 people the U.S. trying to deport


The tiny West African nation of The Gambia has refused to take back nearly 2,000 deportees from the U.S., which led to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson refusing to grant some Gambians visas to visit the U.S. (Associated Press) more >

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Sunday, October 2, 2016

The Gambia has refused to accept nearly 2,000 people the U.S. is trying to deport, forcing the Obama administration to pull the trigger and refuse to grant visas to some Gambians hoping to visit the U.S., the State Department said this weekend.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson took the decisive move after years of prodding by lawmakers on Capitol Hill, signing a letter triggering the law that requires a halt in visas to countries that are refusing to accept their own citizens. Under the law, the State Department had no choice but to comply.

“As of October 1, 2016, the U.S. Embassy in Banjul, The Gambia has discontinued visa issuance to employees of the Gambian government, employees of certain entities associated with the government, and their spouses and children, with limited exceptions,” a State Department official said.

The Gambia is the first country in 15 years to face such a penalty. Some saw the move as an attempt to deflect pressure from Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who never stripped countries of visas during her four years in the State Department, even as the backlogs grew. GOP nominee Donald Trump has said he would be quicker to pull the trigger on visa sanctions against countries that refuse their deportees.

Section 243(d) appears to say that all visas are to be denied — though the Obama administration has only announced sanctions against government officials and their close relatives.

Still, that could be a powerful lever. The only time the law was triggered before, against Guyana in 2001, it produced full cooperation from that South American nation in less than two months.

An official from the Gambian embassy in Washington recently told The Washington Times that as many as 1,800 Gambian citizens were caught in a backlog. He suggested one solution was to have U.S. taxpayers foot the bill for Gambian immigration authorities come to the U.S. to review the cases.

Still, he insisted his country is trying to cooperate.
“Our country respects the laws of the United States, and we are working closely with the U.S. authorities to take care of the situation,” said Hamba Manneh, counselor at the Gambian embassy.

Overall, tens of thousands of immigrants from across the globe are still in the U.S. because their countries won’t take them back, and pressure is mounting from Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican who first revealed the move against The Gambia on Friday, said it was about time the administration targeted someone. He said he hopes more countries face the same punishment if they don’t begin to cooperate, and he said if The Gambia doesn’t straighten out, he hopes the U.S. broadens the visa sanctions to more than the government.

“It’s time we make clear to these nations that blocking U.S. deportation efforts by refusing to take back their citizens has consequences,” said Mr. Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

More than 30,000 Cubans — the vast majority with criminal records — are awaiting deportation but have been released onto the streets in the U.S. because Cuba refuses to take them back. China is another major offender, placing high on the list of nearly two dozen recalcitrant countries identified by Homeland Security.

The Gambia is ranked No. 11 on that list, according to Jessica Vaughan, policy studies director at the Center for Immigration Studies.

She said there’s now a major hurdle to cooperating: Most of the Gambians awaiting deportation have been released onto the streets — including hundreds with criminal records — so tracking them down to deport them could be difficult.

“If The Gambia agrees to take back their criminals, how will ICE find them if most of them are at large?” she said.

The results of countries refusing to take back their deportees can be tragic.

Jean Jacques, a Haitian man whose country refused to take him back after he served prison time in the U.S. for attempted murder, was released onto the streets and went on to kill a young Connecticut woman last year after a drug dispute with her boyfriend.

Haiti had refused to take Jacques back because he lacked identity documents, and officials questioned whether he really was Haitian.

An inspector general’s investigation found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents didn’t take every step to try to force Jacques to obtain identity papers that could have helped ship him home.

Officials from both the State Department and ICE said they don’t use the visa sanction punishment lightly, saying it is part of a complex diplomatic dance.

“Use of this authority must be considered in light of both the potential impact it could have on U.S. foreign and domestic policy interests, particularly with respect to adverse effects on bilateral relations with a foreign partner, and whether visa restrictions will be an effective tool in gaining the country’s compliance,” an ICE official said.

Steps short of visa sanctions include issuing a series of official letters and demanding meetings with ambassadors.

Some members of Congress have said if countries still won’t cooperate, the U.S. should strip them of any funds they get.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...the-us-trying/

RECALCITRANT COUNTRIES: DENYING VISAS TO COUNTRIES THAT REFUSE TO TAKE BACK THEIR DEPORTED NATIONALS

Full House Committee on Oversight and Government ReformFULL HOUSE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM
HEARING DATE: JULY 14, 2016 9:30 AM 2154 RAYBURN HOB



TAKEAWAYS:

• According to ICE 953,506 aliens with final orders of removal remain in the United States.
• The Supreme Court’s decision in Zadvydas v. Davis, which limits the length of detention for aliens who cannot be removed in the near future, allows even violent criminal aliens to be put back on U.S. streets if their home country refuses to repatriate.
• 
  
  • Since 2013, 8,275criminal aliens were released under Zadvydas.
  • This is a fraction of the 86,288criminal aliens since 2013 released back into U.S communities and who went on to commit 231,074 crimes.
  
  
• State and DHS are not enforcing current law (243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act), which allows the U.S. to deny visas to countries who refuse to take back their nationals.
• 
  
  • Ambassador Bond testified that denying visas to recalcitrant countries is “an effective tool”but further testified that State has not employed the tool in the last fifteen years.
  
  
• By focusing on a sliding scale of penalties rather than enforcing the statute, the State Department is prioritizing foreign policy ideology over the safety of American citizens and usurping the will of Congress.

PURPOSE:

• To examine Department of Homeland Security and Department of State policies and procedures for denying visas to countries that refuse to take back their deported nationals.

BACKGROUND:

• Thousands of deportable criminal aliens are released back onto U.S. streets because their home countries refuse to repatriate them.
• Pursuant to the Supreme Court’s decision in Zadvydas v. Davis, after 180 days, if the home country steadfastly refuses to repatriate an alien, the alien must be released, even if the alien is a violent criminal with no legal right to remain in the U.S.
• The Immigration and Nationality Act provides that, “upon notification by the Attorney General [now by the Secretary of Homeland Security], that a ‘foreign country denies or . . . delays accepting an alien . . . the Secretary of State shall . . . discontinue granting . . . visas . . . to citizens, subjects, nationals and residents of that country’ until the country accepts the alien.”

o Although enacted in 1952, this provision is seldom invoked.
KEY VIDEOS:
Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT): “You’re so worried about playing nice instead of implementing the law, these people are committing more crimes. … Everything from murder, to DUIs, to sexual abuse. Get rid of them.”



National Security Subcommittee Chairman Ron DeSantis (R-FL): [I]“t’s not unreasonable to say that if someone comes into the country illegally and then gets convicted of attempted murder, that it should be a very high priority of the government to get that person out of our country…”


Health Care, Benefits, and Administrative Rules Subcommittee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH):“Just a few minutes ago you said, …‘We at the State Department believe denying visas can be an effective tool.’ How can it be effective if you never use it?”

https://oversight.house.gov/hearing/...ted-nationals/