On Wednesday, September 11, the United States Department of State released a statement revealing that it had imposed visa restrictions on specific executive members of a European charter company. The US Department of State revealed these restrictions were imposed due to evidence that supported this charter company was facilitating migrants over the US border. This was implemented because of a growing trend of charter companies flying their aircraft into Nicaragua to allow easier access across the US border.
New visa restrictions for senior officials
The US specifically restricted the visas of certain senior officials of a European charter flight company. The US Department of State did not specify who the restrictions were imposed on or even what charter company the executives were a part of. It also did not specify how many migrants the company has flown into Nicaragua to facilitate migration into the US. Allegedly, migrants across the world have been paying for charter flights to Latin American countries, where they then will travel by land to the United States-Mexico border to cross illegally.
Photo: Airbus
A spokesperson for the US Department of State, Matthew Miller, wrote about the new restrictions in a statement. Miller wrote,
“No one should profit from vulnerable migrants-not smugglers, private companies, or public officials. We will continue to impose visa restrictions against unscrupulous transportation company owners, executives, and senior officials as part of our broader campaign against such exploitative practices within and beyond the Western Hemisphere, in collaboration with partners in government and in the private sector.”
Miller also stated that these visa restrictions were part of a global policy and were compliant with the Immigration and Nationality Act. According to Reuters, the restrictions fall in line with a recent executive order put into place by President Joe Biden. This executive action, enacted in June, was to limit border crossings if they exceeded a certain threshold.
About the growing immigration trends
Border crossings and immigration trends have become a popular topic in the United States ahead of the upcoming November Presidential election between the current Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump. Additionally, according to a report from Reuters earlier this year, a new phase of illegal immigration has affected the US. Specifically, migrants from across the world have begun paying smuggling networks large sums of money to travel to Latin American countries before eventually moving toward the US-Mexico border by land. These networks provide the migrant with flights, on either chartered flights or on commercial airlines, to Latin America and also provide bus rides and hotel stays on the route to the border.
Migrants using these pricey services typically come from outside Latin America. In 2023, nearly 10% of illegal border crossings involved migrants from outside Latin America. This was less than 1% ten years ago, indicating a large surge of irregular border crossings from migrants around the world.
The current administration has implemented visa restrictions on executives of charter companies before. In March, the US Department of State began revoking visas for senior officials of charter airlines that have been involved in these illegal schemes. The latest round of visa restrictions indicates an ongoing effort to curb these networks.