Facing unprecedented migratory flows, U.S. President Joe Biden this week announced stricter border requirements to manage the influx of asylum seekers, especially at the southern border.
A new report by Infobae shows that the Nicaraguan government, adversarial to the U.S., has facilitated large-scale migration toward the country through organized means and profited from it.
The Nicaraguan government, led by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, has established a system that each year receives thousands of migrants from various countries, including Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and nations in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Many of them are flown into Managua on charter flights arranged by the government. Of these migrants, two-thirds are from regional countries, while the rest come from other parts of the world. For instance, in October last year, 36 flights from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, were recorded over three days.
Nicaragua charges each migrant a $150 fee for entry and allows them a 96-hour stay. This process is conducted without stamping passports or issuing receipts, thus obscuring the country's involvement. During their stay, the regime provides transportation, accommodation, and other services to ensure the migrants move northward by land to continue their journey to the U.S. border.
This system allows many who lack resources to attempt entry into the U.S. for a relatively modest fee and without needing visas, unlike transit through Panama or Mexico. It is estimated that the Nicaraguan government has earned at least $65.9 million from these activities.
Brian Nichols, the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, condemned Nicaragua's use of migration as a foreign policy tool. "No one should profit from the desperation of vulnerable migrants... not smugglers, not private companies, not public officials, not governments," he said.
The U.S. State Department has imposed sanctions on those involved in these schemes, targeting Nicaraguan officials and airline executives. Among the sanctioned airlines are Dominican Sky High Aviation Services, Sunrise Airways, Air Century, Servicios Aéreos Panamericanos (Sarpa), Servicio Aéreo de Capurgana, and EuroAtlantic Airways.
These companies have been accused of "facilitating irregular migration" and have been urged to collaborate with efforts to curb these practices. However, many have ignored requests to identify flight segments linked to these networks, provide passenger information, and review documents.
In light of these developments, Eric Jacobstein, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, reiterated the U.S. commitment to addressing the permissive environment created by Nicaragua, saying the government is evaluating further actions to deter this practice.
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