At least three Caribbean Community (Caricom) nations have outrightly rejected a proposal or feelers from the Trump transition team down in Florida to become third-party resettlement nations for some of the millions of immigrants his administration plans to deport from late next month.
The Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), and Grenada have said no to any firm proposals, or hints of any, to be recipient nations for thousands of immigrants on the list to be sent back to home countries or to others in the event that their native nations refuse to accept them.
Bahamian Prime Minister Phillip Davis was among the most forthright of leaders rejecting the idea from the Mar-a-Lago transition headquarters in recent weeks, with governments saying they have no plans to entertain such a politically and infrastructurally unworkable, if not bizarre, proposal ,so planners had better begin to look elsewhere for deportee havens.
Apparently, the transition team is well aware that some nations that are slated to receive large influxes of deportees might resist U.S. pressure to accept them, while others may refuse to accept them altogether, hence the team shopping around for third-party countries to take them in.
U.S. television network NBC News had almost exclusively reported on the idea in the first week of this month, prompting rejections from the three nations. It is unclear whether any other member of the 15-nation Caricom trade bloc or any of its associate countries had also received the proposal or the political feeler from the transition team.
For PM Davis of the Bahamas, the entire proposal is unworkable and has been rejected. “This matter was presented to the government of the Bahamas, but was reviewed and firmly rejected by the prime minister,” Davis said in a statement on behalf of his mini-archipelago nation just off Florida. “The Bahamas simply does not have the resources to accommodate such a request. Since the prime minister’s rejection of this proposal, there has been no further engagement or discussions with the Trump transition team or any other entity regarding this matter. The government of the Bahamas remains committed to its position.”
In reacting to the media reports, TCI Governor Dileeni Daniel Selvaratnam said the administration there had not been officially contacted, but urged American officials to discard any notion that deportation could be an even remote possibility. “Our position, as outlined by the minister of immigration, is unequivocal: The Turks and Caicos Islands will not accept deportees from the U.S. or any other nation unless they are our citizens,” she said. “This clear position is rooted in our sovereignty, the protection of our borders, and the welfare of the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Any suggestion to the contrary is unfounded. The Turks and Caicos Islands will continue to prioritize the interests and security of our nation above all else.”
Immigration Minister Chuck Musgrove, meanwhile, was even tougher in his response to any notion of the TCI as a deportee resettlement haven, noting that “the government of the TCI categorically states that we will not, under any circumstances, accept deportees from the U.S. or any other nation who are not citizens of the TCI. Our country’s immigration policies are clear and firmly rooted in the principles of sovereignty, the protection of our borders, and the welfare of our people,” he said.
Down south to Grenada, which the U.S. invaded back in 1983, authorities also said they were aware of media reports about this, but had also not engaged with Trump’s team on the issue.
“The office of the prime minister advises that the government of Grenada has not engaged in any discussion regarding the deportation of migrants to Grenada. Furthermore, no proposal has been presented regarding this matter. This clarification comes amid concerns raised surrounding an NBC news article claiming that the incoming Trump administration plans to deport some migrants to some countries other than their own.”
Trump and his incoming administration have promised to embark on the largest deportation exercise in American history immediately after being sworn in on January 20.