by Linda Straker
- Exclusive NBC News report said Trump transition team has reached out to Grenada
- Grenada identified in report as agreeing to accept deportation flights from United States
- Former National Security minister concerned about deportation flights arrangement
Grenada has been identified as one of the Caribbean countries that may accept deportation flights from the United States with illegal migrants who are being refused by their other countries of origin.
Opposition Leader and former Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell has said that it will be unacceptable if the Government of Grenada agrees to accept these flights from the United States under the incoming Donald Trump Administration.
An exclusive report on nbcnews.com states that the Trump transition team has already contacted several countries to work out a deal under which they would agree to receive deportation flights from the US. “One source familiar with the plans told NBC News the Trump transition team has already reached out to Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, Panama and Grenada to work out a deal under which they would agree to receive deportation flights from the US,” according to the NBC report.
The NBC News report, which was published on 5 December, said that “the plan to deport some migrants whose home countries are reluctant to accept them, to third-party countries where they may have no connection, would be a way for the new Trump administration to work around that issue as it creates what US President-elect Trump has promised will be “the largest deportation operation in American history.” The incoming Trump administration, which will be sworn into office on 20 January 2025, “has a goal of deporting migrants within a week of their arrest, and believes this policy will help expedite deportations.”
“Migrants who come from Venezuela, Cuba, China and other countries that are reluctant to accept back people who have emigrated to the United States have long posed an issue for US authorities, who are barred by federal court orders from indefinitely detaining them. As a result, many migrants from those countries end up released into the United States, even if a judge has ordered them deported,” said the report.
The report also stated, “It is also not known what kind of pressure — either economic or diplomatic — the Trump transition is applying to countries to get them to agree, or might apply once President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated in January.”
Dr Mitchell, who also served as National Security Minister from 2013 to 2022, said, “I am yet to see an official statement from our government about this plan with the incoming US administration, but this will be a strange agreement, very unacceptable. We have our own problems; why should we take on this burden from the US? We are less positioned to handle this; it’s very strange.”
When publishing this story, the response about this plan from the Office of the Press Secretary was: “I am not aware that we have received a proposal. Not sure who they reached out to.”
Editor’s note: This post has been edited to correct referenced quotations
Why is NOW Grenada spreading misinformation? Why hasn’t a correction to this article been made promptly? Sad state of affairs in Grenadian media it seems…
Please let us know what correction(s) are required
You made the correction to the article without doing the professional thing of accepting that an error was reported, and highlight the correction. This is how professionals do it.
The article referred to reported that Trump is preparing a list of countries to which it MAY deport migrants when their home countries refuse to accept them. This article, referring to the same article on NBC, reports that “Grenada has been identified as one of the Caribbean countries that WILL ACCEPT deportation flights.
Thank you. We have made the edit.
Pure propaganda and fear mongering. Waste of time.
VOTE HIM OUT IMMEDIATELY
U talking messsss…If the u.s sending a plane with deportees, what grenada could do about it…..Why did u not say this when we were firced to take the covid vaccine
If those countries, which are all larger than Grenada, do not want their own people back, why would Grenada, with only 133 square miles, even be mentioned as one of the few that would take in hardened criminals?
Do you want terrorists, drug dealers, rapists, kidnappers, and murderers living next door to your family? Your reference to Covid told me a lot about your mindset and further explains why Grenadians do not demand more accountability from their leaders.
The PM knows that these so-called rumors are creating panic and fear, but he has not addressed the nation.
As a supporter of NDC, I am sad to say that what De Con is doing to Grenada is worse than what the British did. What a shame. He dresses like Mobutu Sese Seko and hides behind a smile that we cannot trust.
Just like Joseph, we and our treasurers are being sold for a few pieces of silver. Hopefully, the day will come when we elect our leaders based on their politics and not their personalities.