US sanctions Uzbek visa officials over illegal immigration network as President Shavkat Mirziyoyev attends Trump’s “Board of Peace” meeting

WASHINGTON: The United States announced sanctions Thursday against officials at an Uzbek visa facilitation company over an illegal immigration network, while the country’s leader was in Washington to attend President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace Council” meeting.

Washington “has taken steps to impose visa restrictions on individuals in Uzbekistan identified as knowingly facilitating illegal immigration to our nation,” the State Department said in a statement.

The visa ban applies to executives and senior officials from two visa facilitation companies based in the Central Asian nation, it said, without naming them.

The State Department said the companies were providing travel services for migrants to illegally enter the United States.

It accused them of facilitating travel “through airports and across borders to transit points in Central America,” where many then tried to enter the United States illegally.

Washington “will not tolerate any attempts to undermine our national security or immigration laws,” it said.

The announcement of the sanctions came as Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev participated in the inaugural meeting of Trump’s “Board of Peace” in Washington on Thursday.

 The Sun Malaysia