The unrelenting pressure the Trump administration has been exerting on Caribbean community nations to comply with American edicts is continuing, with tiny Dominica saying that it had completed an agreement to accept deportees from the U.S. in the coming weeks.
The island’s cabinet says it has completed all negotiations for what has been dubbed the Third Country National Arrangement (TCNA) and is readying to accept a small number of deportees in the coming months. So far, the Eastern Caribbean nation of just 66,000 is the only one that has advanced so far in its talks with the U.S., hinting that the under-populated island needs a few more people to help spur development. The major hospital on the island recorded only 513 births last year, officials said.
Others, including Guyana and Grenada, have said that their talks about a framework agreement are ongoing.
Providing details in the past week, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit vowed that the dominica program will be handled responsibly and in the nation’s interest. “The agreement was formally signed on March 18, 2026, by Dominica’s ambassador to the United States of America,” he told a press conference. Importantly, this arrangement is non-binding, and Dominica retains full discretion at all times. “This means we have the authority to accept or reject any individual. We also maintain the right to refuse entry to persons with a criminal history, and we will have advanced access to relevant medical and security information before any decision is made.”
The island’s agreement with the U.S., according to Skerrit, will see fewer than 30 people being sent to the country annually.
Critics say that Dominica is moving fast to tie up arrangements with an administration that announced partial visa restrictions and travel for several categories late last year, including tourist visas for its nationals. The same restrictions were applied to neighboring Antigua, putting political pressure on the local administration.
As an indication of how the region is sometimes being more than subtly pressured to live with orders from Washington, the State Department recently added fellow Eastern Caribbean member nation Grenada to the list of countries worldwide whose citizens must lodge refundable visa bonds of between US$5,000–$15,000 before applying for a visa. The move is blamed on an alleged growing number of visa overstays. In recent months, Grenadian officials had resisted pressure from the U.S. to establish a high-tech military grade radar in a country that it had invaded back in 1983. The radar was eventually erected in nearby Tobago in the lead-up to the military action to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in early January.
As the island prepares, Skerrit said authorities are reaching out to the International Organization of Migration (IOM) for help in hosting deportees. Caribbean governments have stated that they will not accept any criminal deportees or those with terminal illnesses and other major issues, even suggesting that they would welcome those with engineering and other skills. Those expected in the region will have been allegedly rejected by home countries or unwilling to return to their native lands.
Skerrit said he wants Washington to know it can rely on Dominica. “It is important to find key points of agreement and compromise between our countries,” he told reporters. “This engagement is based on our responsibility to safeguard the well-being of our people, particularly their access to lawful travel, education, employment, and family connections, while strengthening cooperation between our governments. I believe this will further deepen our longstanding relationship and signal clearly that Dominica remains a willing and reliable partner of the United States in the region.”
Skerrit added that, “in other words, no requests have been made of the government of Dominica so far to accept anyone. We’ll continue to keep the public informed as more details become available, and I want to assure the Dominican people that the process will be managed carefully, responsibly, and in our national interest.”