US immigration authorities have cancelled the visas of more than two dozen people, including some employed on a Disney Cruise Line ship, over allegations of possessing or viewing child sexual abuse images.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement on Friday that agents boarded eight cruise ships in late April and identified 27 individuals, mostly from the Philippines, involved in “the receipt, possession, transportation, distribution, or viewing” of such material. Their visas were revoked and they were returned to their home countries.
CBP did not disclose whether any passengers were believed to be victims, which ships were targeted, why those ships were chosen, or where the operations took place. The agency stated no further information was available and noted that a criminal charge is not required for visa revocation.
Disney Cruise Line said it has a “zero-tolerance policy for this type of behaviour and fully cooperated with law enforcement. While the majority of these individuals were not from our cruise line, those who were are no longer with the company.”
Immigrant and workers' rights groups, including Unión del Barrio, have sought details about the workers' status and the enforcement action. Benjamin Prado of Unión del Barrio expressed scepticism about CBP's claims, saying his group wants to understand the monitoring that preceded the detentions and whether due process was followed. He noted that the agency's statement was not easily accessible on its website.
