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Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the Organisation of American States (OAS), Sir Ronald Sanders
Many worldwide have referred to US President Donald’s Trump mass deportation initiative as inhumane, outrageous, and a gross miscarriage of justice and human rights but Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) Sir Ronald Sanders says this shouldn’t come as a shock at all.
Sanders said it shouldn’t come as a shock for anyone that President Trump is going to these lengths as he would have made it clear what his agenda was pre-election.
“This was a promise and a pledge, with massive support from his base that he couldn’t afford not to fulfill. This was not something that surprised me. This is something that I have warned our government about through communications even before Mr. Trump took office,” Sanders mentioned.
Over 100 Antiguan and Barbudan nationals have been singled out so far to be deported.
That number is expected to increase significantly, as what has been described as a wave of brutal exodus.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently released a list outlining the number of individuals marked for deportation by country.
For Antigua and Barbuda, the figure stands at 110.
The names of those individuals have not been disclosed, and no additional details have been provided to assist families or local authorities.
Sanders did however clarify that it would be those persons who are illegally in the county that would be targeted under this new regime.
These individuals were the ones who would have overstayed in the United States based on immigration records, they will be found and sent home.
“In this particular instance, Trump is not doing what any other country isn’t doing,” Saunders added.
It is for that particular reason why the top diplomat isn’t convinced Antigua and Barbuda or even Caricom on the whole have a leg to stand on in this battle.
“What would be the Caricom response to a country that says I have people who have overstayed their time. We believe that when they entered, they violated the terms on which they were allowed to enter. What would Caricom say that these people are here under those conditions, and we need to deport them, when Caribbean countries are doing the exact same thing?” Saunders questioned.
According to NBC News, the Trump administration aggressively publicized the arrests of more than 8,000 immigrants by federal agents since Inauguration Day, with the promise that those detained would be part of a historic mass deportation.
Since he took office, President Donald Trump and his allies have promoted immigration operations in cities like Chicago and New York, where agents across federal agencies were called in to increase the number of arrests.
Protests have since been held in various states.
These are just those we know of. Many will be deported after that. Some antiguans have sold their homes. What will they be returning to?
They should have been thinking of all those things when they mad up their minds to overstay ninka
Illegal Antiguans and Barbudans should have legalized their status in America before selling their homes (properties) here at home. Gaston administration needs to get ready to build hundreds of small makeshift homes for these deportees who don’t have any family members to stay with when they return.