US Crackdown On Migrant Charter Flights To Nicaragua

The United States has imposed sanctions on Migrant Charter flights to Nicaragua, a Central American nation, in order to address the migrant crisis. 

Migrants from Cuba, a country in the Caribbean, and Haiti, a country in the Caribbean, have been taking chartered flights to Nicaragua from where they travel overland to the United States. 

The US has imposed visa restrictions on people running charter flights into Nicaragua. Nicaragua has not required visas for Cuban migrants since November 2021. Since then, around 421,000 Cuban migrants have entered the United States. 

Migrants from Nicaragua entering the US

Tens of thousands of U.S.-bound migrants have arrived in Nicaragua in recent months. Migrants take chartered flights to enter Nicaragua. Later on, they take the help of a smuggler to go to the United States, seeking a better life.

According to the US authorities, charter flight businesses have been offering high-speed rides, directing migrants from Cuba and Haiti on dangerous land routes toward the US border. The authorities aim to stop irregular migration in the US.

Several Cuban migrants do not have legal grounds to enter or remain in the US. The smuggler often charges a lot of money from these migrants.

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Charter flights to aid migrants

Manuel Orozco, a director of migration issues at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue, said that charter flights to aid migrants was a new phenomenon. 

According to the US authorities, an average of 50 migrant charter flights a month traveled between Havana and Managua between January and October of this year. The flight targets migrants, exposing them to dangerous situations toward the US border. 

The Central American country of Nicaragua launched charter flights to aid migrants and send them to the US. 

Panama and Costa Rica have already imposed a transit visa on Cubans to tackle the influx of migrants. 

Earlier this month, Brian Nichols, the U.S. deputy secretary of state, expressed concern about the increase in these migrant charter flights. Brian Nichols said, “No one should profit from the desperation of vulnerable migrants – not smugglers, private companies, public officials or governments.”