Authorities call them “crime tourists.” Law enforcement experts say cells of professional South and Central American criminal’s are entering the country illegally or exploiting a visa waiver program meant to expedite tourism from dozens of trusted foreign countries. Once here, they travel from state to state carrying out scores of burglaries, jewelry heists and other crimes, pilfering tens or hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of goods each year, the FBI estimates. Experts said the groups often operate with impunity because they have found a kind of criminal sweet spot. Bail for nonviolent property offenses is often low, so an arrested burglar often quickly gets bond and skips town for the next job, experts said. The crimes often don’t meet the threshold for the involvement of federal authorities. And they attract less attention at a time when U.S. authorities are contending with a rise in homicides.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/01/11/burglaries-crime-tourists-target-asians/ Law enforcement experts say cells of professional South American burglars, particularly from Colombia and Chile, are entering the country illegally or exploiting a visa waiver program meant to expedite tourism from dozens of trusted foreign countries. Once here, they travel from state to state carrying out scores of burglaries, jewelry heists and other crimes, pilfering tens or hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of goods each year, the FBI estimates. Experts said the groups often operate with impunity because they have found a kind of criminal sweet spot.
Good for them, finally Colombians find their niche. Just one thing, there is no real "visa waiver program" for Colombians and getting a tourist visa is an excruciating process. So seems, hard to believe but the Washington Post is talking shit.
The U.S. Embassy website for Columbia has an entire section dedicated to how to get visa waiver (VWP) in Columbia to get into the U.S. https://co.usembassy.gov/visas/visa-waiver-program/
Yes... as noted by the website if you don't qualify for the Visa Waiver Program "to allow travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa" then you will need to get a B1B2 Visa in Columbia to get into the U.S.
The southern United States Border is Sealed Tight. No illegal entry is permitted. Go back to sleep. Everything is under control.
And because virtually nobody can qualify for this, Colombians have to do a long, fairly expensive process involving a personal interview which involves proving property ownership, a substantial job etc, ie strong ties and no criminal anything. My wife has a visa they are valid ten years. She was lucky to get it just before the pandemic kicked off as the delays are huge now.