The Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues held a hearing Sept. 30 on Nicaragua's political crisis. The sharpest tension wasn't between Republicans and Democrats. It was between the committee's bipartisan concern for Nicaraguan dissidents and the Trump administration's immigration enforcement posture.

Why it Matters

The hearing examined Daniel Ortega's July declaration that Nicaragua would hold no more competitive elections and a constitutional amendment package barring opposition figures from running for office. The Trump administration has described the Ortega government as a dictatorship and imposed sanctions on more than 2,350 Nicaraguan officials. But witnesses said the pace of new designations has stalled, and Democrats pressed the administration on its deportation of Nicaraguan exiles.

The Big Picture

On Sept. 1, Nicaragua's Congress passed constitutional changes barring opposition parties from elections. On Sept. 22, U.N. experts warned the crackdown may amount to crimes against humanity. On Oct. 2, the Organization of American States (OAS) approved a resolution calling on Nicaragua to free political prisoners and restore civic liberties.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said he had introduced bipartisan legislation to renew and expand sanctions on Nicaraguan officials responsible for corruption and human-rights abuses. The Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act (NICA Act) became law in 2018, and Congress held a "Democracy Held Hostage in Nicaragua" hearing as far back as December 2011.

What They're Saying

Juan Sebastián Chamorro, a witness from Ciudadanos por la Libertad and a former political prisoner, told the panel that dictators "do not respond to condemnation. They are inherently evil. They respond only when the political and economic cost of their actions become consequential." He appealed for passage of the REFORMA Act before January, when he said the regime would enshrine its changes in law.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) asked Chamorro whether six of the 222 former political prisoners in the United States had been detained by ICE, and Chamorro confirmed they had, later saying it would be "another thing to be deported back to the country that had imprisoned you, tortured you, convicted you, stripped your nationality and sent it away."

Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) asked Gil Guerra of the Hudson Institute how he would define the administration's current strategy on Nicaragua, and Guerra said it appears somewhat premised on the January actions toward the Venezuelan regime, with a sense that Nicaragua comes after Cuba, adding that there have been no new designations since the last ones announced in April and that he believes recognitional designations on Nicaraguan figures are "long overdue."

Eddy Acevedo, a witness from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), said in testimony that Nicaragua's gold sector exports reached $2 billion in 2025, and he called on the administration to use the import and export prohibitions under Executive Order 14088, which he said was never enforced.

Political Stakes

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) said deportation flights to Nicaragua have increased about 400 percent under the Trump administration. Chamorro said returnees face the same conditions he described, or worse. "People can get killed if returning to Nicaragua," he said.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) said that since 2021 Nicaragua has received over a billion dollars in Chinese financing for infrastructure, telecoms and energy projects, and asked how the United States can counter that influence without empowering the regime even further.

The Bottom Line

The constitutional reforms witnesses warned about are expected to take effect in January 2027, leaving Congress a narrow window to act.

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