Nicaragua Is Weaponizing Illegal Migrants to Gain Leverage Against the Biden Admin, Experts Say

The government of Nicaragua is using large U.S.-bound migrant waves coming through his country to force sanctions relief out of President Joe Biden, according to the Associated Press, citing experts familiar with the situation.

More than 260 charter planes believed to have carried migrants from Haiti have landed in Nicaragua in recent months, which Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega is using to get sanctions relief from Biden, experts told the AP. In recent years, the U.S. government has increased sanctions on Ortega’s government and family as thousands flee his repressive regime.

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Biden to Extend Stay for More than 300,000 Immigrants: Report

The Biden administration will extend the temporary legal status of roughly 337,000 immigrants from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Nepal and Honduras, CBS News reported Tuesday.

Immigrants from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Nepal and Honduras will be allowed to stay and work in the country for an additional 18 months under Temporary Protected Status (TPS), according to CBS News, which cited two current and former U.S. officials. TPS is granted due to either armed conflict, environmental disaster, an epidemic or other “extraordinary” conditions, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

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Ruthless Repression: Nicaraguan President Imprisons More than 1,800 People for Political Reasons in the Last Five Years

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)  published new figures on the repression in Nicaragua, five years after the massive protests that came close to removing the dictator Daniel Ortega from power.

According to the IACHR , in this period the Nicaraguan tyrant has ordered the imprisonment of 1,841 opponents. To date, 47 people remain in detention, while 222 have been deported.

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Former Presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton Team Up with American Express and ‘Welcome.US’ to Fly Migrants into the U.S.

American Express Global Business Travel and Welcome.US have reportedly teamed up with former Presidents Obama, Clinton, and George W. Bush’s nongovernmental organization (NGO) called Miles4Migrants to fly migrants to communities across the U.S.

Welcome.US is an NGO that was initially launched to work with President Joe Biden’s administration to facilitate some of the 85,000 Afghans who came into the U.S. in 2021 and 2022 after the debacle created when the U.S. evacuated from Afghanistan, according to Breitbart.

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‘I Don’t Believe in Popes’: Nicaraguan President Reportedly Bans Easter Public Processions

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega reportedly banned public church processions for Easter after comparing the Catholic church to the “mafia,” according to the Catholic News Agency (CNA).

Tensions between the government and the church have been rising due to Ortega orchestrating multiple investigations into church leaders and exiling others, according to CNA. Ortega has reportedly placed a ban on public religious demonstrations during Lent, Good Friday and Easter after he attacked the church during a speech memorializing the 89th anniversary of Nicaraguan national hero Augusto Sandino’s death, calling the Catholic church a “mafia organization” committing “grave crimes and horrors.”

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More Than 200 People Arrested in Human Sex Trafficking Ring in Florida

A multiagency operation led to the arrest of more than 200 people allegedly engaging in human trafficking in Polk County, Florida. More than half of the victims were smuggled into the U.S. illegally through the southern border, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.

Of the 24 victims identified as being trafficked, “14 of these females are illegally in this country,” Judd said. “Did you hear that? Did you hear clearly what I said?

“Fourteen of them are here illegally in the country. To me the bombshell is 13 of them are Cuban, one is Mexican, all of them came to us through the southern border.”

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Regimes in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua Among the Most Undemocratic in the World, According to The Economist

Cuban Flag on Pole

The British magazine The Economist released the  2022 Democracy Index on Thursday, in which Cuba appears in 139th place, among 165 independent states. Once again the government of the country was described as an “authoritarian regime” and in this edition it scored zero in the indicator of electoral processes and pluralism.

The Havana regime also appears among the worst in the categories civil liberties (2.94 out of 10), political participation (3.33), government functioning (3.21) and political culture (3.75).

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Commentary: Nicaragua’s Brutal Catholic Crackdown

For millions of Christians around the world, the official religious Christmas season kicked off this week with a renewed sense of normalcy – an abundance of colorful lights, parades and processions, family and church gatherings, and even fireworks in some areas.

Many believers in countries where Christians are religious minorities such as China and India are embracing the festivities with new enthusiasm. Early December marks the first time annual public and private advent gatherings have been allowed since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Trump Administration to End Quasi-Amnesty for Nicaraguans After 20 Years

The Department of Homeland Security indicated Monday that it would end a quasi-amnesty program for 5,300 people in the U.S. from Nicaragua, but extend it for 86,000 people from Honduras. The U.S. had originally granted Temporary Protected Status to people from both countries after they were ravaged by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Administration officials, speaking on…

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