St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN)—Prime Minister Dr Terence Drew has confirmed that St. Kitts and Nevis has agreed to accept deportees from the United States under a new Memorandum of Understanding.
“I want us to understand that St. Kitts and Nevis, of course, was approached by the United States of America as the other CARICOM countries and we took a very proactive approach sitting with the Americans to reach an arrangement that I think that arrangement is in keeping with our principles and of course you know having the collaboration with United States of America as well. I know we are intelligent people, I know we have been looking very closely, and I know our people understand that the geopolitical environment at this time is not what we have been accustomed to. We know there have been shifts, so being proactive is very important, and I want to thank our people, of course, who have been involved in this. So St. Kitts and Nevis has negotiated and entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States of America for the potential transfer of certain third-country nationals, and I want us to listen carefully to who are citizens or nationals of the Caribbean community. This does not involve anybody outside of CARICOM.”
Announcement follows similar agreements recently confirmed by Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda, a move that is being accepted across CARICOM member states.
“And I will further say that because of security matters it does not include Haiti at this particular. It does not involve anybody from any other place outside of the CARICOM region. Under the arrangement, the United States may propose transfers of CARICOM nationals. This is what St. Kitts and Nevis has negotiated without violent or sexual criminal backgrounds, and St. Kitts and Nevis may accept them. We are not obliged according to the MOU. The MOU contemplates jointly developing operational procedures, including capacity-based limits and logistical arrangements. So, in St. Kitts and Nevis’s negotiations for our proactive diplomacy, this only contemplates CARICOM citizens at this time, for security reasons, excluding Haiti. These CARICOM nationals, they are without violent or sexual criminal backgrounds.”
While specific details are still being finalised, Prime Minister Drew said the financial cost of the arrangements will be borne by the United States as both governments continue discussions on logistics and implementation.
“We are a CARICOM country. CARICOM can come to St. Kitts and Nevis, and all CARICOM countries, I think, have agreed to receive the appeal. So it means, therefore, that this arrangement, of which I would call collaboration, really is a scenario that is in keeping with our CARICOM principles. It is not one cap that fits all. It depends on what each country negotiated. But we negotiated proactively.”
Addressing concerns about the impact on the Federation, the Prime Minister sought to reassure the public that safeguards would be in place.
“So it does not necessarily infringe on anything. That’s one. Secondly, as I said before, the cost will work out to be borne by the country that would ask for us. And we have the option to determine if this is the right fit for us or not based on the scenario. And the benefit is that those are some of the things we will negotiate as well. What that would be like. This is the MOU. So we have a memorandum of understanding. And then we’ll put those logistical pieces in place to determine the specifics. Because, as you can see here, we are making sure that it does not, while we negotiate and while we have good bilateral relations, which you would know, helps in a lot of different areas. We know the reality of the geopolitics.
Since returning to office, U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration have adopted a hardline approach to immigration enforcement with increased deportation of foreign nationals for even minor infractions, including visa overstays and traffic-related offences.
