Minister of Foreign Affairs Fitzgerald Bramble said Wednesday that St. Vincent and the Grenadines has not been officially informed by the United States that it has suspended the processing of immigrant visas for Vincentians.
Multiple international news outlets have reported on the suspension, with CNN listing SVG and several other Caribbean countries among the 75 countries to which the policy applies.
“We have not been officially informed by the US embassy in Barbados to the Eastern Caribbean nor any other US government official, for that matter,” Bramble said in a statement published by the state-owned Agency for Public Information, adding that he had seen the media reports about the policy shift.
“However, we are following the news item and we are following up. We have been contacting officials in the US Embassy in Barbados and we have also been in contact with our embassy in Washington, DC — the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Embassy to the United States to find out exactly what is happening in this regard,” Bramble said.
“So, as of now, we don’t have any official information at all on this news article and as soon as more information, official information, comes to hand, I will inform the general public.”
CNN reported that the United States was indefinitely suspending immigrant visa processing from the 75 countries in another expansion of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.
The media reports say that the suspension applies to immigrant visas, such as those for employment or to join family in the United States and will come into effect on Jan. 21.
The pause does not apply to non-immigrant visas like student and tourist visas, and as such would not apply for those seeking to travel to the World Cup in the US later this year.
CNN, citing a US official, said that the CARICOM nations of Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and SVG are on the list.
Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago are not included in the new policy.
At the time of publication of this news article, the US State Department’s website did not have any information on the policy, the source of which international media reports had attributed to an unnamed US official.
The Barbados-based Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) reported on Wednesday that Antigua and Barbuda said that St. John’s had not been officially informed of the migration policy.
The suspension comes after the State Department last year directed increased scrutiny under the “public charge” provision of immigration law meant to target those who the Trump administration believes will become a strain on public resources, CNN reported.
Meanwhile, Antigua and Barbuda Ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders, said in a statement that he had been made aware of United States and regional media reports that the United States Department of State was contemplating a suspension of the visa processing.
“Upon becoming aware of these reports, I made immediate inquiries with the United States Department of State. As of this moment, no formal announcement has been made, and no official communication has been issued to the Embassies of the countries reportedly affected.”
Sir Ronald said that he was advised by senior officials of the Department of State that this matter arises from a new requirement under the direction of the White House.
“However, contrary to some media reports, the measure under consideration does not apply to all visa categories. It relates only to applications for immigrant visas (commonly referred to as “green cards”), which are subject to a temporary pause of up to sixty (60) days while vetting and screening procedures are reviewed.”
Sir Ronald said that he wanted to emphasise that “at this stage, no written notification has been provided to Embassies, and the information available to me is based on direct conversations with senior officials, rather than on any formal directive.
“It is also important to clarify that applications for immigration to the United States are matters exclusively between the individual applicant and the Government of the United States. The country of nationality or origin of an applicant has no legal or administrative role in decisions relating to the grant or refusal of immigrant status.”
CMC said that the move by President Donald Trump is the latest move designed to prevent foreigners from visiting the North American country.
“The Trump administration is bringing an end to the abuse of America’s immigration system by those who would extract wealth from the American people,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X that the countries affected would include Somalia as well as Russia and Iran.
The Antigua and Barbuda diplomat said that in the meantime, the Gaston Browne administration “continues its representations to the relevant United States authorities to secure the removal of Antigua and Barbuda from the list of countries subject to partial visa restrictions, including the requirement for certain visa applicants to post a bond.
“These efforts remain ongoing and active,” he added.
The United States is surviving by ripping off smaller countries for their oil and minerals. That empire is broke and is printing unbacked money out of thin air. It is against melanated people and is doing everything to keep them under control, but time will tell.
Black countries have to establish a center for innovation,technological research and engineering. Each black nation must contribute money towards this center or city. Stop this madness where bright , young black people are becoming lawyers. It has weakened or made black nations extremely weak ,helpless and lazy. My visit and interaction with Japanese made me realize how much behind black nations were. As a black people,are we just in it for the ride with whom ever? We have to change course as a people or we will for ever be at the mercy of all who don’t look like us.
I don’t think this will or should affect Layou. This is where people travel to obtain water during bad weather. BIGUT has water for the entire Central Leeward.
This is an opportunity to remove the taxes on purchasing such material. For car wash businesses they should use these tanks or setup businesses closer to the river to capture water before it enters the sea.
All rivers should have several water tanks constructed to keep all the water from entering the sea. This will allow farmers to have the water supply for their crops.