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☆ Nicaraguan Catholic bishop sentenced to prison, stripped of citizenship
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Rolando Alvarez, bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa and Esteli and critical of the Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, prays at a Catholic church where he is taking refuge alleging he had been targeted by the police, in Managua, Nicaragua May 20, 2022. REUTERS/Maynor ValenzuelaMANAGUA, Feb 10 (Reuters) - A Nicaraguan court sentenced Catholic Bishop Rolando Alvarez to a more than 26-year prison term on Friday, a day after the cleric and critic of President Daniel Ortega declined to be expelled to the United States as part of a prisoner release. Alvarez was convicted on charges of undermining national integrity and spreading false news, and during Friday's court hearing it was also announced that he would be fined and stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship. Last August, police arrested Alvarez, bishop of the Matagalpa diocese, after dislodging him after he had barricaded himself in church property for several weeks along with other priests. Reporting by Ismael Lopez; Writing by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Anthony EspositoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Spain offers freed Nicaraguans citizenship after move to make them stateless
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueMADRID/MANAGUA, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The Spanish government offered citizenship to more than 200 Nicaraguan political prisoners who were freed and flown to the United States on Thursday, Spain's top diplomat said on Friday. Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares made the announcement to Servimedia news agency, following the surprise release of 222 Nicaraguan prisoners later expelled to the United States. After their release, lawmakers loyal to authoritarian President Daniel Ortega voted to strip them of their Nicaraguan citizenship, which could thwart plans to return home someday. He added that Spain stood ready to receive others, noting that Madrid's decision had been made "after news reports that proceedings had begun to declare them stateless." Spanish authorities will reach out to the prisoners, who were allowed into the United States under a temporary humanitarian visa, so they can formally apply for citizenship.

☆ Nicaragua Releases 222 Political Prisoners, U.S. to Take Them In
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( José De Córdoba | Andrew Restuccia | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Nicaragua has released more than 200 political prisoners, many of whom have been held in harsh conditions since their arrest two years ago, and the U.S. agreed to take them in, U.S. officials said Thursday. The 222 prisoners, who include former presidential candidates and leading journalists as well as student, labor and business leaders, were put on a chartered flight in Managua. They were expected to land in Washington around midday.

☆ Planeload of Freed Nicaraguan Political Prisoners Arrives in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( José De Córdoba | Andrew Restuccia | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Nicaragua has released 222 political prisoners, many of whom had been held in harsh conditions since their arrest two years ago, and the U.S. agreed to take them in, U.S. officials said Thursday. The prisoners, who include seven former presidential candidates, leading journalists and student, labor, opposition and business leaders, were deported and put on a chartered flight in Managua after they were stripped of their citizenship, Nicaragua’s government said. They landed at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, where they were met on Thursday by joyful family members.

☆ U.S. officials prepping legislation to revamp asylum system
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"It's a total rethink of the approach and is not constrained by current laws," one of the DHS officials said. Blas Nunez-Neto, a top DHS policy official, is one of the people leading the legislative effort, according to one of the DHS officials and another person familiar with the matter. The new Biden asylum bill could also potentially incorporate a requirement that migrants seek asylum in countries they pass through if protections are available elsewhere, the third person familiar with the effort said. The Biden administration has said it wants to end Title 42 and replace it with a more established rapid deportation process known as "expedited removal." U.S. officials since last year have pressed Mexico to accept non-Mexicans via expedited removal once Title 42 terminates, two U.S. officials told Reuters.

☆ Over 200 Nicaraguan prisoners, including top Ortega critics, freed and sent to U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Ismael Lopez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MANAGUA, Feb 9 (Reuters) - More than 200 political prisoners in Nicaragua were released and flown to the United States on Thursday, including leading critics of President Daniel Ortega, in what Washington described as a "constructive step" towards improving human rights. The mass release "opens the door to further dialogue between the United States and Nicaragua regarding issues of concern," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. A Nicaraguan judge denounced the 222 prisoners as "traitors" in a televised statement, and said they had been "deported." The released prisoners will go through the humanitarian parole process, the Biden administration said in a note to Congress. It added that the Nicaraguan government had made "its own decision" to release the prisoners, and urged further steps to ensure human rights in Nicaragua.

[1/5] A few of the more than 200 freed political prisoners from Nicaragua disembark from a bus after they arrived in the United States at Dulles International Airport in Virginia near Washington, U.S., February 9, 2023. A Nicaraguan judge denounced the 222 prisoners released as "traitors" in a televised statement, and said they had been "deported." The released prisoners will be allowed to enter the United States on emergency humanitarian grounds, the administration of President Joe Biden said in a note to Congress. She added: "This sovereign decision of the Nicaraguan state has been taken in the supreme interest of our country, to live in harmony." In addition to the 222 individuals who went to the United States, two others were freed but chose not to travel, the State Department said.

☆ Paraguay president to visit Taiwan ahead of election that could end ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Paraguay is one of only 14 countries to have formal diplomatic relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, and Beijing has been stepping up efforts to get those remaining allies to abandon Taipei. Paraguay would cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan and open relations with China if the opposition wins the election, its presidential candidate Efrain Alegre has said, hoping to boost economically important soy and beef exports. "Taiwan and Paraguay have had diplomatic relations for more than 65 years and a deep friendship," the ministry added. Santiago Pena, the ruling Colorado Party candidate, has said Paraguay's relations with Taiwan would remain intact if he wins on April 30. China views Taiwan as one of its provinces, with no right to state-to-state ties, a position Taipei hotly disputes.

☆ U.S. imposes sanctions on MS-13 gang members in Nicaragua, Honduras
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Wednesday on two members of the international criminal gang MS-13, accusing them of involvement in drug trafficking and murder in Central America and the United States. The sanctions against the two individuals -- an MS-13 leader in Honduras and an associate with the gang in Nicaragua -- are part of a broader U.S. government effort to disrupt the group's activities and financing, the department said in a statement. "Treasury's sanctions against MS-13 aim to interrupt its use of the financial system to launder illicit proceeds," department official Brian E. Nelson said. The leader in Honduras, Archaga Caria, has distributed cocaine from that country to the United States, and has ordered the murders of rival gang members, the department said. The MS-13 associate, Campbell Licona, used businesses the gang owned or controlled to launder drug proceeds, including through U.S. banks, the department said.

☆ Haitians seen crushing into migration centers seeking passports to U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] Haitians gather outside an immigration office looking for turns to apply for a passport days after Haiti police blocked streets and broke into the airport during a protest demanding justice for fellow police officers killed by armed gangs, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti February 2, 2023. REUTERS/Ricardo ArduengoPORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Haitians desperate for passports to apply for a U.S. migration program crowded local migration centers, according to videos shared on social media on Friday, crushing through small doorways and scaling the outside of stairways. Videos from Haiti's Lalue migration office and an improvised center at a sports facility in the capital Port-au-Prince show people climbing on railings of stairs and being crushed as they fight their way through crowds, clutching document envelopes. The move comes as the country expands Trump-era restrictions to rapidly expel migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on foot. Reporting by Harold Isaac in Port-au-Prince and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Chaos and intrigue reign in UK court fight over Castro-era Cuban debt
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Michelle Caruso-Cabrera | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The Cuban government and an investment firm are battling in a British court over decades-old debts racked up by the communist-run island nation. Kin Cheung | APIllegally recorded videos, chaotic protests and testimony from an imprisoned Cuban bank official marked the first week of a high-stakes trial in the UK High Court between Cuba and an investment fund. Adding to the intrigue: a court attendee who's a dead ringer for Raul Castro's son and Fidel Castro's nephew, Alejandro. Cuban officials say the man is just a press officer for the Cuban Embassy in the UK. Debt in distressDefaulted sovereign debt, like that of Cuba, trades on the secondary market.

☆ Haitians in the U.S. feel pressure to sponsor friends, family back home
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Brian Ellsworth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"Many people unfortunately are not in a position to sponsor family members or friends back home, but they are receiving calls nonstop." She said her clients have described being expected to sponsor entire extended families and in some cases face threats. "I would say it's also a program that will place undue stress on families and cause family divisions." "People will say 'I have more than one cousin I would like to sponsor, I'm only able to sponsor one of them,'" Jozef said. She is also opposed to the expulsions of Haitians and other migrants arriving at the southwest border, many who are seeking U.S. asylum.

☆ U.S. arrests of Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants plummet under new restrictions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The number of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border dropped 97% from December to January following new restrictions by U.S. President Joe Biden that expel them back to Mexico. U.S. authorities encountered an average of just 115 migrants from those countries over a weeklong period ending on Jan. 24, down from an average 3,367 on Dec. 11, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Wednesday. The department attributed the decrease to the restrictions and new legal pathways opened for migrants with U.S. sponsors who enter by air. Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington D.C.Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Illegal border crossings in December surged to highest of Biden's presidency
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON — A surge in Cuban and Nicaraguan arrivals at the U.S. border with Mexico in December led to the highest number of illegal border crossings recorded during any month of Joe Biden’s presidency, authorities said Friday. The extraordinary influx came shortly before Biden introduced measures on Jan. 5 to deter Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. U.S. authorities stopped migrants 251,487 times along the Mexican border in December, up 7% from 234,896 times in November and up 40% from 179,253 times in December 2021, Customs and Border Protection said. Cubans were stopped nearly 43,000 times in December, up 23% from November and more than quintuple the same period a year earlier. Nicaraguans were stopped more than 35,000 times, up 3% from November and more than double from December 2021.

The app CBP One had already been in use by the administration for some purposes but was officially expanded to allow asylum seekers to be prescreened. Those who qualify are given appointments for a time and date and port of entry where they can enter the U.S. and begin their asylum request process. Many migrants have phones, but others arrive without them or have limited or no WiFi access. Groups have also raised concerns about how app users' personal information will be used and stored. He recommended migrants avoid taking the risks to cross the border and use the app instead.

☆ Americans see Biden's handling of classified docs as inappropriate — but not criminal, poll shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The survey also found Biden's job approval among Americans sliding further into the red. But a plurality of Americans, 46% to 37%, do not think Biden should face criminal charges over the mishandling of those documents, Quinnipiac found. "Roughly two-thirds of Americans are aware of and troubled by the misplaced classified documents found in President Biden's home and private office. The questions about the classified documents had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.6 percentage points. For questions not related to Biden's handling of classified documents, Quinnipiac surveyed 1,659 adults between Wednesday and Sunday.

☆ Americans can sponsor refugees directly under program launching this week
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Groups of Americans will be able to directly sponsor refugees for resettlement in the United States under a new program launching on Thursday, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters, a step that could bolster admissions and reduce government costs. The sponsor groups will also be required to pass background checks and create a support plan. The program will aim to find U.S. sponsors for 5,000 refugees in fiscal year 2023, which ends on Sept. 30, another of the sources said. The administration also used parole to admit Afghans and Ukrainians and piloted sponsor programs to support them in the United States. Refugee Resettlement Program, which takes referrals from the United Nations and U.S. embassies.

☆ Americans can sponsor refugees directly under program launching this week -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

☆ Detained Nicaraguan Catholic bishop, Ortega critic to face trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MANAGUA, Jan 10 (Reuters) - A prominent Catholic bishop in Nicaragua who has sharply criticized authoritarian President Daniel Ortega will go to trial while under house arrest, a judge ruled on Tuesday, in the latest clamp down on dissent in the country. Human rights organizations accuse Ortega's government of persecuting the Catholic Church. Another prominent cleric, Bishop Silvio Baez, is in exile in the United States along with a number of other priests who have fled. The president has accused Catholic leaders of trying to overthrow him in a "coup" following anti-Ortega street protests that began in 2018. But as tensions have intensified, Ortega officials have expelled Catholic nuns and missionaries and shuttered more than a dozen Catholic radio and television stations.

☆ Repression, economic turmoil, and gang violence is driving the crisis at the US border, an expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

It came amid a surge in the number of undocumented migrants seeking to enter the US. An analyst told Insider that a perfect storm of factors is driving people north to the border. Ariel Ruiz, an analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, said that the factors driving migration are "intersecting and compounding," and driving the surge from Central America, South America and the Caribbean. In Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, increased political repression and inflation related to the COVID-19 pandemic are key factors driving the surge, while in Haiti, he said, a surge in gang violence was the main driver. The wealth available in the US, the relative poverty of other nearby nations, and limited options for legal migration, mean that high undocumented migration is likely to continue, Ruiz concluded.

☆ Explainer: Why migrants are crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in record numbers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Mica Rosenberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

What is happening at the U.S.-Mexico border now and why are there record numbers of crossings? U.S. Border Patrol made more than 2.2 million arrests at the U.S.-Mexico in the 2022 fiscal year, which ended last September, the most ever recorded. The number of Venezuelans crossing the border plummeted after Mexico agreed to accept expulsions of Venezuelan migrants last October. The Biden administration has said it wants to surge resources to process more claims quicker but faces budgetary and other constraints. The Biden administration also set a goal of resettling 125,000 refugees in 2022 who apply from abroad after Trump dramatically slashed admissions during his term.

☆ Biden Administration Leans on Trump-Era Policies to Combat Migrant Wave
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Michelle Hackman | Tarini Parti | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—President Biden announced his administration’s broadest effort yet to deter migrants seeking asylum at the southern border, expanding its use of several Trump-era border control measures the president had previously decried. Beginning on Thursday, the administration will use a pandemic-era border measure known as Title 42 to rapidly expel migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, the countries that have posed the greatest challenge to the administration in the past year. The administration is taking the step even as the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments in the case and the administration has argued that the measure is no longer justified on public-health grounds and must end.

[1/4] Migrants queue near the border fence, after crossing the Rio Bravo river, to request asylum in El Paso, Texas, U.S., as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico January 5, 2023. Initial backlash to Biden's policy shift also signals it could be challenged in court, from both those who favor restricting immigration and advocates for asylum seekers. The restrictions, known as Title 42, allow U.S. authorities to rapidly expel migrants caught at the border back to Mexico without the chance to claim asylum in the United States. The Biden administration tried last year to end the Title 42 border restrictions, but U.S. courts have left them in place and legal challenges are ongoing. The court rulings that left the Title 42 order in place give the Biden administration time to experiment with different strategies.

☆ Biden Administration Expands Title 42 Migrant Expulsions to More Countries
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Michelle Hackman | Tarini Parti | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Biden administration is expanding its use of a pandemic-era border measure known as Title 42 to begin rapidly expelling migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, while opening a new legal path for up to 30,000 migrants from those countries to enter the U.S. a month. The new policy represents the broadest effort yet that the Biden administration has undertaken to deter migrants seeking asylum from crossing the border illegally. It also relies on an expanded use of Title 42 as a border-control measure, even while the administration is arguing in court that the measure is no longer justified on public-health grounds and must end. The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on Title 42 in February.

☆ Biden admin will use Title 42 to block more Nicaraguans, Cubans, Haitians at border, but also open more legal pathways
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julia Ainsley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

The announcement comes as the Biden administration faces record numbers of illegal border crossings, particularly by migrants from those three countries. Previously Haitians, Cubans and Nicaraguans have been able to skirt the Covid-19 border restrictions known as Title 42 that have prevented more than 1.4 million border crossings by forcing migrants back into Mexico before they can claim asylum. Citizens of Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua were not subject to Title 42 in part because their home countries, and therefore Mexico, refuse to take them back. Those accepted through the application process must show they have a U.S.-based sponsor to support them, much like Venezuelans and Ukrainians have done through programs the Biden administration established for those countries. NBC News was first to report that the Biden administration was considering opening up an application program for migrants to apply to come to the U.S. from their home countries.

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