One sign of a new leaf being turned in Washington by the Trump administration is the application of a law that provides for suspension of visas to persons from countries that fail to cooperate in issuing entry document for their citizens being deported from the United States. The law has been on the books for many years, but both Republican and Democrat administrations have failed to apply the law. The argument was that the action of stopping visas was too severe a response, and it had been applied only twice before – to Guyana and Gambia in 2001.
Currently, according to a Washington Times report visa restrictions now have been put in place against Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. The visa restrictions are tailored to get the attention of the foreign ministries by suspending visas for diplomats. In Eritrea, the visa suspension also affects business and tourist visas.
There are other countries that have been similarly uncooperative in accepting the deportation of their citizens. China and Cuba are especially problematic. The Castro government has refused to take back Cubans released from Cuban jails and included in the surge of rafters fleeing to the United States in 1980. Unfortunately the Obama administration did not make cooperation on those deportations a condition for resuming diplomatic relations.