Today, the United States is announcing a first-of-its-kind visa restriction on wildlife and timber traffickers. Wildlife and timber trafficking are serious transnational organized crime activities that threaten national security, undermine economic prosperity, fuel corruption, and spread disease.
This new visa restriction, which relies on section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, is now in effect. This new tool will help disrupt the movements and business of transnational criminal organizations, making it harder for them to smuggle illegal wildlife and timber. The Department of State will also impose restrictions on the immediate family of traffickers who are believed to be complicit or involved in wildlife and timber trafficking. With the implementation of this new tool, the United States continues its leadership in strengthening law enforcement, countering corruption, combating organized crime, and protecting our precious natural world.