The Communist Party of China public security and other four categories of people and their families to the United States suspended U.S. sanctions increased

Visas to the U.S. are suspended for the Deputy Director General of China’s National Immigration Administration (including the Exit-Entry Administration) and personnel above the rank of Deputy Director and their spouses and children, and for active duty personnel of the State Supervisory Commission, the Ministry of Security, and the Public Security System and their spouses and children. The picture shows people lining up for visas outside the U.S. Embassy in China.

The Global Times reported on May 13 that a Chinese undergraduate student who went to the U.S. Embassy for a visa was denied a visa on the grounds that his father was a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s Ministry of Public Security, and that the U.S. Embassy gave a decision letter explaining why he was denied a visa – saying that in light of the U.S. Secretary of State’s directive to stop issuing visas to Chinese spouses and children of active duty personnel of the Immigration Bureau (Exit and Entry Administration), Ministry of Security, Ministry of Public Security, etc.

This decision, in English and Chinese, details as follows.

This letter is to inform you that a visa cannot be processed for you today and that the issuance of your visa is temporarily suspended due to Section 243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The Secretary of Security of the United States of America has notified the Secretary of State that the People’s Republic of China is denying or unreasonably delaying the admission of Chinese citizens, subjects, nationals, or residents who have received a final order of deportation from the United States. The Secretary of State has therefore ordered that U.S. consular officers in China suspend the issuance of B1, B2, B1/B2, F1, F2, J1, and J2 visas to officials of the State Immigration Bureau of the People’s Republic of China (including the Bureau of Exit and Entry Administration) of the rank of deputy director (or equivalent) and above, their spouses and married or unmarried children under the age of 21, and active duty personnel of the State Supervisory Commission, the Ministry of State Security, the Ministry of Public Security, their spouses and children under 30 years of age. In light of the Secretary of State’s directive, the issuance of your visa is suspended. Applicants are not permitted to appeal and the visa application fee is non-refundable.

The decision letter also added: “Regular visa issuance will resume when the Secretary of Homeland Security notifies the Secretary of State that the People’s Republic of China has received its nationals in response to a request from the United States. At that time, a consular officer will review your application and reassess your eligibility for the type of visa requested and contact you if necessary.”

This is an unexpected visa restriction for four categories of persons, their spouses and children, who are

  1. officials at or above the level of deputy director (or equivalent) of China’s National Immigration Administration (including the Exit-Entry Administration).
  2. the State Supervisory Commission of China.
  3. the Ministry of State Security.
  4. active duty personnel of the public security system

As to the rationale for the decision, the decision states that “the Secretary of Security of the United States has notified the Secretary of State …… that the Secretary of State has thereby ordered” that “the People’s Republic of China refuses or unreasonably delays the receipt of a final order of deportation from the United States that has been received by Chinese citizen, belonger, national, or resident.”

Lawyer: U.S. Sanctions Against Communist China Increase

In response, immigration attorney Ye Ning said, “The People’s Republic of China refuses to accept or unreasonably delays accepting Chinese citizens, subjects, nationals, or residents who have received a final deportation order from the United States” means that Chinese citizens with final deportation orders in the United States are generally not accepted by the Chinese government, and many of them do not want to be deported to China. Many of them do not want to be deported to China and therefore keep their passports in their possession or falsely claim that they do not have them. At the same time, Chinese consulates generally do not issue passports to them, making it difficult for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enforce their deportation because they do not have passports.

“But this is a long-standing problem, not a recent occurrence or increase, and now the U.S. is using this as a justification for nothing more than an excuse. In reality, these four categories of people are Communist Party intelligence officers and public security officers, and by restricting their visas and those of their relatives, the U.S. is actually imposing sanctions on them, and increasing them.”

Ye Ning said, “These people steal U.S. intelligence and carry out the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution policies on human rights, such as the persecution of Falun Gong, human rights defenders, and visitors, etc. They have blood on their hands, so the U.S. restricts visas for them and their families, which is actually a sanction, and this time the scope of the sanction is expanded and increased.”

Just one day earlier (May 12) Secretary of State Blinken announced at a State Department press conference that he had sanctioned Yu Hui, the former director of the 610 Office in Chengdu, China, for “serious human rights violations, namely the arbitrary detention of Falun Gong practitioners. Yu Hui and his immediate family members are ineligible to enter the United States.”

These four categories of people are essentially members of the Chinese Communist Party, and the U.S. government enacted restrictions on the travel of Communist Party members and their families to the United States late last year.

According to the U.S. State Department’s December 3, 2020 release, visa validity for Communist Party members and their immediate family members traveling to the U.S. was reduced from the original 10-year multiple-entry visa to one month of validity and limited to a single entry. In response, a State Department spokesperson said the move was “an ongoing policy, regulatory and enforcement action by the U.S. government to protect our country from the harmful influence of the Chinese Communist Party” and that “for four decades, we have allowed the Communist Party free and unfettered access to U.S. institutions and businesses, while U.S. citizens in China have never had free access to the United States. for forty years, we have allowed the CCP free and unfettered access to U.S. institutions and businesses, while U.S. citizens in China have never freely enjoyed the same privilege.”

In a separate statement, the State Department said the Chinese Communist Party “sends agents to the United States to unabashedly spy on, threaten, and report on Chinese citizens and Chinese-Americans engaged in lawful, honest, and open activities that are protected by free speech and liberalism.” A State Department spokesperson also said that the State Department has permissive authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act to limit the visa validity of those hostile to American values.

Why do you say the sanctions have been expanded this time? Yeuning said the previous sanctions were generally targeted only at human rights persecutors themselves, but this time they were expanded to include his or her spouse, children under the age of 21 or 30; in addition, these four categories of people and their families were suspended from entry as opposed to the general visa restriction of one month validity and single entry for communists.

Ye Ning said, for those who follow the Communist Party to persecute human rights, this is a warning that they are not welcome in that country, they are the target of sanctions, and these people should leave the Communist Party as soon as possible to stop the persecution; at the same time, it also warns those who have joined the Communist Party should quickly declare to quit.