Tiffany Introduces Legislation to Suspend U.S. Visas in ‘Recalcitrant’ Countries

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Tom Tiffany (WI-07) announced the introduction of H.R. 8714, the Alien Criminal Expulsion Act or “ACE Act.” This legislation would temporarily halt the issuance of immigrant and non-immigrant visas in “recalcitrant” countries – a term used to describe foreign nations whose governments refuse to accept the return of their citizens who commit criminal acts, overstay their visas, or otherwise violate U.S. laws. The issue came into sharper focus earlier this month amid news reports that Communist China has stopped cooperating with U.S. deportation efforts.
 
“For years, Beijing has impeded our ability to send their criminal aliens home – effectively treating our country as a dumping ground for their nationals who break American laws,” said Congressman Tiffany. “It makes no sense to continue granting visas to citizens of Communist China knowing that we may never be able to remove them should they overstay or commit crimes in our communities.”
 
Communist China’s government issued a formal statement on August 5, 2022, explicitly announcing that they were “[s]uspending China-U.S. cooperation on the repatriation of illegal immigrants.” More than two weeks later, the announcement remains publicly posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website.
 
An existing provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act known as Section 243(d) already stipulates that the Secretary of State “shall order consular officers…to discontinue granting immigrant visas or nonimmigrant visas” in any country that “denies or unreasonably delays accepting an alien who is a citizen, subject, national, or resident of that country.” Tiffany’s bill would enhance this sanction by mandating the suspension of both classes of visas.
 
“Once again, the Biden administration is refusing to enforce a plainly worded provision of our immigration law,” Tiffany said. “China’s rulers aren’t even pretending anymore – so what exactly is the Biden administration waiting for?”
 
A summary of H.R. 8714 can be found here and more information can be found here. 

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