The Department of Homeland Security announced that the U.S. would impose sanctions on four countries for not accepting their nationals who have been deported from the United States.

Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea, and Sierra Leone will not be allowed to issue visas for various classes of individuals.

The sanctions had been discussed for several months, as the U.S. is at odds with several countries over returning their nationals who entered the country illegally. 

Fox News:

"International law obligates each country to accept the return of its nationals ordered removed from the United States," Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke said in a statement.

"Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea, and Sierra Leone have failed in that responsibility," she added, noting that the "one-way street ends with these sanctions."

Under the sanctions, the U.S. will stop issuing all category B visas for tourism and business to citizens of Eritrea, a nation of about 5 million people.

In Cambodia (15.7 million), top government officials and their family members will be denied entry to the U.S. on a business or travel visa.

In Guinea (12.6 million), top government officials will no longer be able to obtain category B nor student and cultural exchange visas.

In Sierra Leone (6.4 million), Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials and immigration officials will not receive tourism and business visas.

"Without an appropriate response from the impacted countries, the scope of these sanctions may be expanded to a wider population," Duke said in the statement.

ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan claimed the reluctance of other countries to accept their citizens meant that "American citizens have been harmed" because ICE was forced to release more than 2,000 Guinean and around 800 Sierra Leone citizens, many of whom have serious criminal convictions, into U.S. communities.

Roughly 700 Eritreans and around 1,900 Cambodians were also released, despite most having serious criminal convictions, including violent and sex offenses.

"These sanctions will ensure that the problem these countries pose will get no worse as ICE continues its work to remove dangerous criminals from the United States," Homan added.

Other nations that may be targeted for sanctions include China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Iran, Burma, Morocco, Hong Kong, and South Sudan. 

Denying visas to various groups in those countries is a slap on the wrist, but the promise of additional sanctions might do the trick.  At least the sanctions show that the U.S. is serious about the issue and has limited patience with nations that won't cooperate.

It's unclear if Central American countries with hundreds of thousands of their citizens in the U.S. illegally will give their full cooperation in accepting their nationals after being deported from the U.S.  So far, the numbers have been relatively small.  But if Trump ramps up efforts to deport illegals, I'm sure some of those countries will balk at the huge number of their citizens sent back with no job, and many of them with no place to live. 

I'm sure those Central American countries are watching what we do with uncooperative nations very closely.