The Biden administration has put visa restrictions on an executive from a charter flight firm as it continues to target those who facilitate illegal migration from Nicaragua.
An unnamed executive of a charter flight transportation company is the latest person to face an entry ban since November, when the State Department announced a new policy to punish those behind companies that offer flights at exorbitant prices to transport migrants to Nicaragua, where they begin their journey to the United States’ southern border.
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“Companies are preying on vulnerable migrants by operating services designed primarily to facilitate irregular migration to the United States,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement, describing the visa limits as an attempt to promote accountability.
“No one should profit from vulnerable migrants—not smugglers, private companies, or public officials.”
The State Department established the regulation in November and expanded its scope to include land and maritime transportation providers in February. Last month, the State Department targeted the CEOs of numerous Colombian transportation companies that carry migrants by sea.
“We will continue to take steps to impose visa restrictions against unscrupulous transportation company owners, executives, and senior officials as part of our broader campaign to eliminate such exploitative practices within and beyond the Western Hemisphere, in collaboration with partners in government and in the private sector,” Miller stated.
During his time in office, President Joe Biden has faced criticism for his handling of the border, as he has attempted to address an increase in migrants unlawfully entering the country since the removal of tough border policies following the conclusion of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Biden has implemented a series of measures to address the issues that appear to have contributed to a drop in the number of migrants illegally entering the United States, from a record monthly high of more than 300,000 in December to less than 180,000 in April, the lowest number of encounters for that month since 2021.
Last week, Biden announced a new executive action that will prohibit entry to migrants crossing the southern border between ports of entry if the seven-day average of daily encounters surpasses 2,500, with humanitarian exceptions in place.
However, it has sparked litigation from immigration advocates and criticism from all sides of the political spectrum, with Republicans claiming it is too little, too late, and Democrats concerned about the ramifications for asylum applicants.
