Rubio callously revokes visas for entire country over US mistake

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has a bone to pick with South Sudan, even though the country did nothing wrong. Rubio and his lackeys announced Saturday they were revoking all current visas for people from South Sudan and shutting the door on future visitors after the country refused to accept a deportee from the United States. However, according to government officials from the African nation, they agreed to accept a South Sudanese national named Nimeri Garang. Instead, the United States sent an immigrant named Makula Kintu, who is actually a citizen of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In a letter posted to the South Sudan government’s X account, officials wrote that they went through “comprehensive verification processes” to confirm Kintu’s identity. Even Kintu himself told officials that he wasn’t from South Sudan.“He stated that he hails from the Ema tribe of the Northern Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo and added that he was brought to South Sudan against his will,” the document states. Despite those claims, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau called South Sudan’s reasoning for turning Kintu away “legally irrelevant.” Landau claims the South Sudanese Embassy issued Kintu an emergency travel letter in February 2025 which listed his nationality as South Sudanese, and they must stick by that, regardless of new information. This was enough for Rubio and his team to turn away an entire country of people who may or may not be coming to the United States to escape politically challenging times in their homeland. South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011, has been a politically unstable nation struggling to move away from military rule. In recent years, the government has been working toward establishing a stronger democracy but in recent months the country has been on the brink of another civil war due to clashes and political tension between South Sudan President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar.South Sudan’s Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth told The Associated Press Monday that the United States was “attempting to find faults with the tense situation” in the country, as no other sovereign nation would be expected to accept foreign deportees.Once Rubio and his team shut the door on South Sudanese citizens, the cornered government decided on Monday to accept Kintu “in the spirit of the friendly relations.”It’s unclear if this will prompt Rubio to roll back his draconian decision. Daily Kos has contacted the Department of State and the South Sudan government for comment. This is far from the first egregious mistake made by U.S. officials when it comes to deportations. Last month, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials abducted Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father with legal protected status, and deported him to a brutal prison in El Salvador, mistakenly claiming the Salvadoran man was a member of the notorious MS-13 gang. Despite admitting their mistake, Trump’s team is now arguing that they are powerless to bring him back to the United States.These are just two pieces of a disturbing mass deportation puzzle. On one hand, the Trump administration is targeting undocumented immigrants who they claim have criminal records and sending them back to their home countries, placing them in family detention centers, or putting them in maximum-security prisons like Guantanamo Bay and CECOT in El Salvador. On the other hand, Trump’s team is also going after legal permanent residents, green card holders, and visa holders who they don’t agree with. In the past month, the administration has abducted at least three university students—Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk, and Columbia student Leqaa Kordia—as well as Georgetown University Professor Badar Khan Suri.Rubio has begun quietly terminating hundreds of student visas as he monitors social media accounts for hints of Palestinian support or any kind of past criminal record. In some cases, students have lost their visas due to traffic tickets. Justifying his actions in a press conference last month, Rubio told reporters that he hopes to “get rid of all” of the visa holders who commit the sin of speaking out against the Trump administration. “Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas,” Rubio crowed.Campaign Action

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has a bone to pick with South Sudan, even though the country did nothing wrong. Rubio and his lackeys announced Saturday they were revoking all current visas for people from South Sudan and shutting the door on future visitors after the country refused to accept a deportee from the United States. However, according to government officials from the African nation, they agreed to accept a South Sudanese national named Nimeri Garang.

Instead, the United States sent an immigrant named Makula Kintu, who is actually a citizen of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In a letter posted to the South Sudan government’s X account, officials wrote that they went through “comprehensive verification processes” to confirm Kintu’s identity. Even Kintu himself told officials that he wasn’t from South Sudan.

“He stated that he hails from the Ema tribe of the Northern Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo and added that he was brought to South Sudan against his will,” the document states. Despite those claims, U.S.

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau called South Sudan’s reasoning for turning Kintu away “legally irrelevant.” Landau claims the South Sudanese Embassy issued Kintu an emergency travel letter in February 2025 which listed his nationality as South Sudanese, and they must stick by that, regardless of new information. This was enough for Rubio and his team to turn away an entire country of people who may or may not be coming to the United States to escape politically challenging times in their homeland.

South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011, has been a politically unstable nation struggling to move away from military rule. In recent years, the government has been working toward establishing a stronger democracy but in recent months the country has been on the brink of another civil war d ue to clashes and political tension between South Sudan President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar. South Sudan’s Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth told The Associated Press Monday that the United States was “attempting to find faults with the tense situation” in the country, as no other sovereign nation would be expected to accept foreign deportees.

Once Rubio and his team shut the door on South Sudanese citizens, the cornered government decided on Monday to accept Kintu “in the spirit of the friendly relations.” It’s unclear if this will prompt Rubio to roll back his draconian decision. Daily Kos has contacted the Department of State and the South Sudan government for comment.

This is far from the first egregious mistake made by U.S. officials when it comes to deportations.

Last month, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials abducted Kilmar Abrego Garcia , a Maryland father with legal protected status, and deported him to a brutal prison in El Salvador, mistakenly claiming the Salvadoran man was a member of the notorious MS-13 gang. Despite admitting their mistake, Trump’s team is now arguing that they are powerless to bring him back to the United States . These are just two pieces of a disturbing mass deportation puzzle.

On one hand, the Trump administration is targeting undocumented immigrants who they claim have criminal records and sending them back to their home countries, placing them in family detention centers, or putting them in maximum-security prisons like Guantanamo Bay and CECOT in El Salvador. On the other hand, Trump’s team is also going after legal permanent residents, green card holders, and visa holders who they don’t agree with. In the past month, the administration has abducted at least three university students — Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil , Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk, and Columbia student Leqaa Kordia —as well as Georgetown University Professor Badar Khan Suri.

Rubio has begun quietly terminating hundreds of student visas as he monitors social media accounts for hints of Palestinian support or any kind of past criminal record. In some cases, students have lost their visas due to traffic tickets. Justifying his actions in a press conference last month, Rubio told reporters that he hopes to “get rid of all” of the visa holders who commit the sin of speaking out against the Trump administration.

“Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas,” Rubio crowed..