Trump threatens to withhold visas for countries that don't quickly repatriate citizens | TheHill

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President TrumpDonald John TrumpSanders says he wouldn't 'drop dead' if Trump decided on universal healthcare Overnight Health Care: Trump officials lay groundwork for May reopening | Democrats ramp up talks with Mnuchin on next relief deal | Fauci says death toll could be around 60,000 Hillicon Valley: State officials push for more election funds | Coronavirus surveillance concerns ramp up pressure for privacy bill | Senators warned not to use Zoom | Agencies ask FCC to revoke China Telecom's license MORE on Friday issued a memo threatening to withhold visas for people from countries that do not quickly repatriate their citizens from the U.S. due to concerns over the coronavirus.

Trump wrote in a memo to the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that the DHS secretary will notify the secretary of State if any government denies or delays “the acceptance of aliens who are citizens, subjects, nationals, or residents of that country after being asked to accept those aliens, and if such denial or delay is impeding operations of the Department of Homeland Security necessary to respond” to the pandemic.

Within seven days of proper notification, the State Department will then initiate a plan to impose visa sanctions under an executive order Trump signed in January. Those sanctions can be repealed if DHS deems the targeted country has resumed accepting people “without unreasonable delay.”

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“Countries that deny or unreasonably delay the acceptance of their citizens, subjects, nationals, or residents from the United States during the ongoing pandemic … create unacceptable public health risks for Americans,” Trump wrote in the memo. “The United States must be able to effectuate the repatriation of foreign nationals who violate the laws of the United States.”

The White House, State Department and DHS did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Hill regarding what led to the memorandum and if any country in particular was being targeted.

While Trump has caught flak for his initial handling of the coronavirus outbreak, which critics have said was insufficient, the president has vowed to take tough action to curb the virus’s spread.

The memo plays to Trump’s past harsh rhetoric toward other countries, accusing world powers of taking advantage of the U.S. over supposedly unfair trade deals and other issues.

The Trump administration has prioritized repatriating U.S. citizens from around the world back to the country amid the coronavirus pandemic. The State Department has coordinated the repatriation of 56,385 Americans from 101 countries since January 29, according to figures last updated Friday.

Tags Donald Trump United States Department of Homeland Security Repatriation Coronavirus COVID-19 &nbsp