US ready to impose visa ban on China over immigration issue

The number of undocumented Chinese nationals in the United States varies according to different independent sources; according to the Migration Policy Institute, as of mid-2022 around 239,000 Chinese immigrants were living in the U.S. without legal status. In contrast, countries such as India—whose citizens also have a high number of undocumented residents in the United States—are reportedly cooperating fully with U.S. authorities on repatriation efforts, according to an official. The United States wants Beijing to provide travel documents for deportees promptly and to allow charter flights operated by Customs and Border Protection to land in China. Under Section 243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the U.S. can impose visa sanctions on countries that refuse or delay accepting their nationals back, and the Department of Homeland Security has regularly included China on that list. Since the Obama administration, U.S. officials have believed that China deliberately delays issuing travel documents, either because it is unwilling to take back its citizens or because it uses the issue as leverage in negotiations with Washington. U.S. law enforcement officials also told Reuters that China sometimes attempts to link deportation matters with requests for the extradition of its economic or political fugitives who have fled to the United States.