U.S.-China Negotiations on Repatriation of Nationals Subject to Final Orders of Removal

On October 4, 2017, the U.S. Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, and the acting Secretary of Homeland Security, Elaine Duke, chaired a U.S.-China Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity Dialogue along with officials of the Chinese government. Interpreter Releases Daily reported that one of the issues discussed was the repatriation to China of foreign nationals with final orders of removal. The United States and China committed to developing a process for verifying the identities of individuals subject to final orders of removal in a timely matter in order that they may be issued travel documents within 30 days of identity verification. The process is expected to be completed within three months of the meeting.

Please see “Interpreter Releases Daily 5 10-12-17” to read the full news release.

The news is significant in that China is one of the countries that has been identified as being recalcitrant in accepting the return of its nationals who are subject to U.S. final orders of removal. President Donald Trump identified countries not accepting the return of their nationals as a key immigration enforcement issue in his January 25, 2017 executive orders on immigration [see article]. We recently wrote about how the Trump Administration imposed visa sanctions on four countries for not accepting the return of their nationals subject to final orders of removal in a timely matter [see blog].

We will provide more updates as they become available.