[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 221 (Friday, November 19, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 64797-64800]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25418]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 86 , No. 221 / Friday, November 19, 2021 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 64797]]


                Proclamation 10309 of November 16, 2021

                
Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and 
                Nonimmigrants of Persons Responsible for Policies or 
                Actions That Threaten Democracy in Nicaragua

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                In light of the importance to the United States of 
                fostering democratic processes and institutions in 
                Nicaragua to help the Nicaraguan people achieve their 
                aspirations for democracy, and given the suppression of 
                human rights and democracy in Nicaragua, I have 
                determined that it is in the interest of the United 
                States to restrict and suspend the entry into the 
                United States, as immigrants and nonimmigrants, of 
                members of the Government of Nicaragua, led by 
                President Daniel Ortega, including his spouse and Vice 
                President Rosario Murillo, and others described in this 
                proclamation who formulate, implement, or benefit from 
                policies or actions that undermine or injure democratic 
                institutions or impede the return to democracy in 
                Nicaragua.

                The repressive and abusive acts of the Ortega 
                government and those who support it compel the United 
                States to act. The Ortega government's crackdown on 
                opposition leaders, civil society leaders, and 
                journalists in preparation for the November 2021 
                Nicaraguan presidential and legislative elections harms 
                the institutions and processes essential to a 
                functioning democracy. The Ortega government's 
                undemocratic, authoritarian actions have crippled the 
                electoral process and stripped away the right of 
                Nicaraguan citizens to choose their leaders in free and 
                fair elections.

                The Ortega government's detention of and denial of fair 
                trial guarantees to peaceful protesters, civil society 
                leaders, private sector leaders, student leaders, 
                political leaders, journalists, and presidential 
                candidates in Nicaragua stifles political discourse and 
                the democratic process. Police and prison authorities 
                contribute to the repressive climate the Ortega 
                government promotes by carrying out politically 
                motivated arrests and detentions of individuals 
                exercising their human rights and holding political 
                prisoners incommunicado, without access to lawyers, 
                family members, and needed medical care. Family members 
                and the media have reported that some prisoners have 
                lost significant weight in detention, cannot walk 
                unassisted, have been held in solitary confinement, and 
                are subjected to frequent, extensive interrogations. 
                The physical and psychological abuse of political 
                prisoners at the hands of police and prison authorities 
                is intolerable and cannot stand.

                The Ortega government controls multiple security 
                services, including non-uniformed, armed, and masked 
                parapolice, who abuse persons to further the Ortega 
                government's authoritarian agenda, including by 
                harassing, threatening, and committing violence against 
                those opposed to the government. Members of the 
                Nicaraguan National Police (NNP), along with violent 
                mobs of pro-government supporters also controlled by 
                government actors, have attacked religious institutions 
                in retaliation for their support for political and 
                religious leaders.

                Municipal officials, acting on direct orders from the 
                Ortega government, have directed violence against pro-
                democracy protesters in their communities and other 
                local actors opposed to the government. For example, 
                mayors

[[Page 64798]]

                and mayors' offices loyal to the Ortega government have 
                organized and channeled state funds to parapolice 
                groups engaged in violent repression. These municipal 
                officials wield enormous political power and 
                discretionary budget authority, conferred upon them 
                from the highest levels of the Ortega government. The 
                climate of fear established and perpetuated by these 
                municipal officials has diminished the possibility of 
                free and fair elections and undermined democracy in 
                Nicaragua.

                The judiciary has failed the Nicaraguan people by 
                aiding and abetting the Ortega government's use of 
                politically motivated charges to lock up political 
                prisoners. By stacking the judiciary with government-
                controlled judges and prosecutors, the Ortega 
                government has abused the justice system to silence 
                critics. Authorities have held many political prisoners 
                incommunicado for months, without access to their 
                lawyers, and with no knowledge of the spurious charges 
                presented against them.

                The widespread impunity for crimes committed against 
                opposition actors; the persistent corruption practiced 
                by Nicaraguan government officials in the performance 
                of public functions that has eroded democratic 
                institutions; and the continued failure of President 
                Daniel Ortega, Vice President Rosario Murillo, 
                Nicaraguan government officials, and others to support 
                the rule of law, human rights, and other principles of 
                high priority to the United States demand a forceful 
                response.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by the authority vested 
                in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United 
                States, including sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the 
                Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 
                1185(a)) and section 301 of title 3, United States 
                Code, hereby find that the unrestricted immigrant and 
                nonimmigrant entry into the United States of persons 
                described in section 1 of this proclamation would, 
                except as provided for in section 4 of this 
                proclamation, be detrimental to the interests of the 
                United States, and that their entry should be subject 
                to certain restrictions, limitations, and exceptions. I 
                therefore hereby proclaim the following:

                Section 1. Suspension and Limitation on Entry. The 
                entry into the United States, as immigrants or 
                nonimmigrants, of the following persons is hereby 
                suspended:

                    (a) Members of the Government of Nicaragua, 
                including elected officials and their staff members;
                    (b) Mayors, vice mayors, or political secretaries 
                who planned, ordered, assisted, aided and abetted, 
                committed, or otherwise participated in, including 
                through command responsibility, serious abuses or 
                violations of human rights to punish peaceful 
                protestors or deny Nicaraguans fundamental freedoms, or 
                who attempted or conspired to do so;
                    (c) Officials of Nicaragua's security services, 
                including the Nicaraguan Military, NNP, Directorate of 
                Special Police Operations, parapolice groups, and 
                paramilitary groups;
                    (d) Officials of the Nicaraguan penitentiary 
                administration;
                    (e) Senior members of the Nicaraguan judiciary, 
                Public Prosecutors Office, and Ministry of the 
                Interior;
                    (f) Members of Nicaraguan government ministries, 
                regulatory agencies, parastatal companies, higher 
                education administrators and faculty, and elected 
                officials who undertake actions, including human rights 
                abuses, to deny services to those who make peaceful 
                efforts to demand the return to democracy in Nicaragua;
                    (g) Non-government persons who serve as agents of 
                or act at the behest of those described in subsections 
                (a)-(f) of this section to facilitate or derive 
                financial benefit from policies or actions, including 
                electoral fraud, human rights abuses, or corruption, 
                that undermine or injure democratic institutions or 
                impede the return to democracy in Nicaragua; and

[[Page 64799]]

                    (h) The spouses, sons, and daughters of persons 
                described in subsections (a)-(g) of this section.

                Sec. 2. Authority of the Secretary of State to Identify 
                Covered Individuals. Persons covered by section 1 of 
                this proclamation shall be identified by the Secretary 
                of State, or the Secretary of State's designee, in the 
                Secretary of State's sole discretion, pursuant to such 
                procedures as the Secretary of State may establish.

                Sec. 3. Implementation of Suspension and Limitation on 
                Entry. The Secretary of State shall implement this 
                proclamation as it applies to visas pursuant to such 
                procedures as the Secretary of State, in consultation 
                with the Secretary of Homeland Security, may establish. 
                The Secretary of Homeland Security shall implement this 
                proclamation as it applies to the entry of noncitizens 
                pursuant to such procedures as the Secretary of 
                Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary 
                of State, may establish.

                Sec. 4. Scope of Suspension and Limitation on Entry. 
                Section 1 of this proclamation shall not apply to:

                    (a) Any lawful permanent resident of the United 
                States;
                    (b) Any individual who has been granted asylum by 
                the United States, any refugee who has already been 
                admitted to the United States, or any individual 
                granted withholding of removal or protection under the 
                Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or 
                Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and nothing in this 
                proclamation shall be construed to affect any 
                individual's eligibility for asylum, refugee status, 
                withholding of removal, or protection under the 
                Convention Against Torture, consistent with the laws 
                and regulations of the United States;
                    (c) Any person otherwise covered by section 1 of 
                this proclamation, upon determination by the Secretary 
                of State that the person has ceased actions that 
                undermine democratic institutions and taken concrete 
                steps to help restore democracy in Nicaragua; or
                    (d) Any person otherwise covered by section 1 of 
                this proclamation, upon determination by the Secretary 
                of State that the person's entry would not be contrary 
                to the interests of the United States, including when 
                the Secretary of State so determines, based on a 
                recommendation of the Attorney General, that the 
                person's entry would further important United States 
                law enforcement objectives. In exercising this 
                responsibility, the Secretary of State shall consult 
                the Secretary of Homeland Security on matters related 
                to admissibility or inadmissibility within the 
                authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security.

                Sec. 5. Termination. This proclamation shall remain in 
                effect until terminated by the President. The Secretary 
                of State shall, as circumstances warrant, recommend 
                whether the President should continue, modify, or 
                terminate this proclamation.

                Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this 
                proclamation shall be construed to impair or otherwise 
                affect:

(i) United States Government obligations under applicable international 
agreements;

(ii) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or 
the head thereof; or

(iii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

                    (b) This proclamation shall be implemented 
                consistent with applicable law and subject to the 
                availability of appropriations.
                    (c) This proclamation is not intended to, and does 
                not, create any right or benefit, substantive or 
                procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any 
                party against the United States, its departments, 
                agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or 
                agents, or any other person.

[[Page 64800]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                sixteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                sixth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2021-25418
Filed 11-18-21; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F2-P