CARICOM must prepare for deportees
Two senior Caribbean Community diplomats have warned regional governments and nationals to prepare for larger than unusual numbers of deportees in the coming months, given moves by the Donald Trump administration to get rid of thousands of so-called undocumented or illegal immigrants, some of whom will undoubtedly come from the Caribbean.
Sir Ronald Sanders, Antigua’s Ambassador to the US, and David Commissiong, Barbados’ Ambassador to CARICOM, have suggested that governments should pay close attention to current developments and that regional law enforcement agencies should also ‘suit up’ to meet the challenges linked to deportations.
“Absorbing large numbers of deportees suddenly can have a disrupting effect on the social services of CARICOM governments, particularly in relation to healthcare and education. The additional strain could exacerbate unemployment and, potentially, contribute to a rise in crime rates,” Sanders wrote in his syndicated column at the weekend. “These are all factors that will have to be monitored closely, and appropriate representation made to the US government if the problems become unmanageable.”
Commissiong, also a key member of the Barbados Reparations Commission, echoed similar remarks urging governments not to be bystanders as deportation exercises are ramped up.
“CARICOM countries have to be concerned because the US has been a prime migration destination for our people, and there are many CARICOM citizens or people of CARICOM ancestry in the US. So, I think that beyond just concern, I think our countries would be well advised to be proactive and to put some contingency plans in place. If, as seems likely, significant numbers of our people will be deported back home, we have to be prepared for that. So, we need to give some thoughts on how we respond and how we would be able to help,” Commisssiong told the Today online publication.
So far, no significant deportee numbers have been reported in the region as the federal agency, ICE, says it is concentrating on criminal deportees for now even as large numbers of West Indians in Queens and other regional enclaves are staying away from work and from socializing for fear of being picked up by agents.
Raids by ICE agents have forced community leaders like Attorney Albert Baldeo in Queens, for example, to urge West Indians not to “rat on each other” and to demand legal rights and entitlements if agents pick them up.
Still, Sanders argues that regional governments have little power to stop or delay deportations and are not expected to deny landing to aircraft bringing deportees.
“The governments of some countries, such as Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Honduras, have declared that they will not accept deportees. But that position is most unlikely to be adopted by the majority of the English-speaking nations of CARICOM), whose societal character and principles would not permit them to turn their backs on their own.”
He identifies Haiti as the member state with the biggest headache in the coming months as large numbers of Haitians are in the US currently.
Commissioning argues that an upcoming summit of regional leaders in mid-February should provide the ideal chance for a standard policy and approach to involuntary returning residents, saying that by then, the situation should have become even more apparent.
“I would imagine by then a pattern should have emerged as to exactly how severe the Trump deportation policy would be in relation to CARICOM countries. The summit would be a good opportunity for all of the prime ministers, the foreign ministers, and attorneys general to come to grips with this and discuss it among themselves,” he stated.
