The United States government has imposed sanctions on senior executives of a European charter flight company for renting its planes to transport irregular migrants to Nicaragua so that they can then continue their journey to the United States.
The State Department announced on Wednesday, September 11, that it has taken “steps to impose visa restrictions on senior officials of a European charter flight company for facilitating irregular migration to the United States through Nicaragua.”
Although the announcement does not specify the name of the company or the number of people sanctioned, it does make clear that it has cancelled the visas of “senior officials” of the European company, which could include executives and owners.
The U.S. measures that have been consistently applied to this type of company respond to the “growing trend of charter airlines to offer flights to Nicaragua designed primarily for irregular migrants,” details the official press release from the State Department published on the official website of that institution.
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“No one should benefit from vulnerable migrants, neither smugglers, nor private companies, nor public officials,” the report adds, referring directly to businessmen who collude with the government of Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega to facilitate the transit of irregular migrants through the Central American country bound for the United States.
US authorities warn that they will continue to “enforce visa restrictions against owners, executives and senior officials of unscrupulous transportation companies as part of our broader campaign against these exploitative practices inside and outside the Western Hemisphere, in collaboration with partners in government and the private sector.”
The Biden administration also notes that its visa restriction policy is global and also applies to people who would otherwise qualify for the Visa Waiver Program.
Wednesday’s sanctions were imposed pursuant to Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act.
