The United States took steps today to impose visa restrictions on executives of several Colombian transportation companies moving migrants by sea. These companies prey on vulnerable irregular migrants by operating services designed primarily to facilitate irregular migration to the United States.
Several companies providing maritime transportation are knowingly facilitating the irregular movement of migrants and exposing migrants to exploitation and violence.  U.S. visa restrictions promote accountability for these actors and send a signal that no one should profit from vulnerable migrants—not smugglers, private companies, nor public officials. 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.
These actions were taken pursuant to a State Department policy announced in February 2024, which expanded and superseded a prior Nicaragua policy announced in November 2023, under Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) Section 212(a)(3)(C).  The policy targets senior officials of companies providing transportation by land, sea, or charter air designed for use primarily by persons intending to migrate irregularly to the United States.