11/27/2018

CORRUPTION/FOREIGN POLICY/IMMIGRATION/NATIONAL SECURITY/PROTESTS/TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS: “I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, find that the situation in Nicaragua, including the violent response by the Government of Nicaragua to the protests that began on April 18, 2018, and the [Daniel] Ortega regime’s systematic dismantling and undermining of democratic institutions and the rule of law, its use of indiscriminate violence and repressive tactics against civilians, as well as its corruption leading to the destabilization of Nicaragua’s economy, constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat. I hereby determine and order:

Section 1. (a) All property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of any United States person of the following persons are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in: any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State:

(i) to be responsible for or complicit in, or to have directly or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in, any of the following:

(A) serious human rights abuse in Nicaragua;

(B) actions or policies that undermine democratic processes or institutions in Nicaragua;

(C) actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, or stability of Nicaragua;

(D) any transaction or series of transactions involving deceptive practices or corruption by, on behalf of, or otherwise related to the Government of Nicaragua or a current or former official of the Government of Nicaragua, such as the misappropriation of public assets or expropriation of private assets for personal gain or political purposes, corruption related to government contracts, or bribery;

(ii) to be a leader or official of an entity that has, or whose members have, engaged in any activity described in subsection (a)(i) of this section or of an entity whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order;

(iii) to be an official of the Government of Nicaragua or to have served as an official of the Government of Nicaragua at any time on or after January 10, 2007;

(iv) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of:

(A) any activities described in subsection (a)(i) of this section; or

(B) any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order…

Sec. 2. The unrestricted immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the United States of aliens determined to meet one or more of the criteria in section 1 of this order would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, and the entry of such persons into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, is hereby suspended, except where the Secretary of State determines that the person’s entry is in the national interest of the United States.

-Donald Trump, “Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Nicaragua,” whitehouse.gov, Nov. 27, 2018

[Note: Read the full Executive Order signed by Donald Trump.]