WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s government Biden will restrict visas to directors of travel agencies and tour operators “who facilitate the migration irregular entry into the United States,” the State Department said in a statement on Tuesday.
In recent months, Washington has announced sanctions against executives of land, sea or air transport companies that promote irregular migration.
The US has also imposed sanctions on Nicaragua, which it accuses of doing business with migration, and has warned airlines to avoid being complicit “in the exploitation of migrants.”
The policy “will now also apply to executives of travel agencies and tour operators who provide travel services designed primarily for irregular immigrants to the United States,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in the statement.
“No one should benefit from vulnerable migrants – not human traffickers, not private companies, not public officials,” he added.
The influx of migrants is one of the issues that most concerns American voters less than four months before the November presidential elections, which will be contested by Democrat Joe Biden, candidate for re-election, and Republican Donald Trump.
Biden, who is seeking re-election and has maintained an open border policy, is trying to reduce illegal migrant crossings.
From the start of the fiscal year through the end of May, U.S. Border Patrol intercepted migrants and asylum seekers without visas more than 2.2 million times and more than 10 million times since Biden took office in January 2021, according to official data.
Source: With information from AFP