On December 16, 2025, the US Government issued a fact sheet outlining the decision by United States President Donald J. Trump to further restrict and limit the entry of certain foreign nationals in the interest of United States national security.
The fact sheet detailed the justification for the partial suspension of entry for immigrants and nonimmigrants under the B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M, and J visa categories, and referenced the historical operation of Citizenship by Investment programmes without residency requirements in both Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda.
I have taken note of a subsequent statement issued by the Bureau of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). In its statement, the Bureau expressed concern about the restrictions that the US government announced on December 16, 2025.
I advise citizens that the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is not a party to the statement issued by the Bureau of the Conference of Heads of Government.
I acknowledge the right of the Bureau of the Conference to express its views. However, the Trinidad and Tobago government maintains its own position on the matter and recognises the sovereign right of the United States to make decisions in furtherance of its best interests.
I hold the view that every sovereign state is responsible for its foreign and domestic policy choices and must be prepared to accept the concomitant consequences. The exercise of power by the United States of America to advance their best interests must therefore be seen as a measured response to the conduct of other nations in the realities of the current environments that they place themselves in.
Trinidad and Tobago’s government does not bind itself to the political ideologies or foreign, economic and security policies of any other CARICOM member government. Member governments are free to make decisions in the best interests of their citizens.
CARICOM is not a reliable partner at this time. The fact is that beneath the thin mask of unity, there are many widening fissures that if left unaddressed will lead to its implosion.
The organisation is deteriorating rapidly due to poor management, lax accountability, factional divisions, destabilising policies, private conflicts between regional leaders and political parties and the inappropriate meddling in the domestic politics of member states. That’s the plain truth.
CARICOM cannot continue to operate in this dysfunctional and self-destructive manner as it is a grave disservice to the people of the Caribbean. The Caribbean community must face the rot within the organisation with transparency and honesty. Hiding behind the glibness of diplomacy, fake sophistication and false narratives is self-defeating.
An organisation that chooses to disparage our greatest ally the United States but lends support to the Maduro narco-government headed by a dictator who has imprisoned and killed thousands of civilians and opposition members as well as threatened two CARICOM members is one that has clearly lost its way.
There are repercussions for this stance. We must all live with the consequences of our actions.
Our citizens can rest assured that I will always make decisions that put Trinidad and Tobago first. CARICOM will not determine our future, only the citizens of our country will choose our path.
“In 2024, Trinidad and Tobago earned over US$1.1 billion in foreign exchange from trade with CARICOM members. The trade relationship is significantly in Trinidad and Tobago’s favor, as it consistently maintains a large merchandise trade surplus within the community.” AI generated.
Not withstanding, Kamala was sick to exculpate herself and island; she totally distanced herself from other Caribbean members. Additionally, like the Federation, we will soon see the withdrawal of Trinidad as the sucking up to the racist gang of politics. Clearly, we can see where allegiance is.
I remember being stuck at the university campus in Trinidad when there was the attempted overthrow of the Government. I wasn’t sure what was going on at the time, except that we were told that we could not travel because of what was going on. It was only when i eventually returned to Da I heard about the attempted overthrow. Although at the time I thought it was a foolish thing to do but I was in no position to applaud or condemn not being fully informed of the reasons behind such drastic actions. But given how this woman is dissing the rest of the Caribbean and kissing Racist Trump’s a**e, I would be more inclined to support a similar action today.
While you all stuck maintaing your place in white people foreign religion’s Christmas, Kamla is celebrating in ‘her peoples’ Hindu image-and-likeness. She seems to know herself and sticks with her people views on this.
Her people refused the foreign religion, reverted back to Hindu and Chrishna after independence from the foreigners, but you’re still stuck, ready to argue with me.
Duh
How did they accomplish making you happy that ‘they’ shut down and forbade you from your god in exchange for their’s; even after you found out that their’s full of cokomakak tailored at keeping you and what they stole from you under heavy military fire, and then enslaved your people(eg. Ephesians 6: ‘5-9 is you) against teachings of their holy book imposed upon us?
CARICOM need to fudge its way forward with or without some small unasuming populations that stick with their people.
Caricom has been a waste of time. there are some leaders in the Caribbean who got drunk on power and made themselves mini dictators. they do not have much natural resources so sell thier souls to anyone who would give them money to manipulate the people to stay in power. Chavez was a perfect source with all the oil resources. Ask Reginald Austrie how well he did with petro caribe. After hurricane Maria the Dominican public was shocked to hear Venezuela forgave US 100 million debt dominica owed. we yet to hear what that money was used for. We will soon find out our debt to China. Corrupt government with CBI revenue that cannot be tracked and making some foreigners very wealthy. she is right, caricom will self implode because there is no common values. thieves amongst honest men and the value of caricom population is not thier priority. check the wealth our crooked leader has amassed.
You know, it is easy to sit behind a computer to make assumptions
and allegations based on your political partisan beliefs, disregarding facts. A couple of days ago, you bragged about critical thinking and how important it is in a commentary you made. Why can you be consistent with what you learned, reading your above opinion where is your critical thinking skills, there is something called speaking in forked tongue. Be happy with your opinion, have a merry Christmas and happy new year.
Merry Christmas and happy new year to you and your family. I wish you all Blessings life has to offer. I also wish you wisdom and understanding and glad to see you make the time to read my post. Keep reading and share with you friends. Dont enjoy alone cause certainly you wouldn’t waste your time if something in there did not catch your attention.
De reality is de assumed Emperor Skerrit presents himself as a high boss holier than thou King of Dominica. He flaunts a big wallet while de common man struggles on a daily basis to keep his head afloat.
De heights that he flaunts is now challenged by one with visible personal clout that did not come from his political career… he attempts to mimic de heights of Trump and in reality turns out as a rogue…….plain and simple
Skerrit and Trump are not de same idealogically.
Skerrit is not trying to make Dominica great again…Skerrit bullies de ordinary voter while Trump bullies weak economies.
Trump pocket got fat through his business attitude while Skerrit Pocket is bulging by weakening certain sectors of de economy and his political opponents.
De woman have a right to her own opinion and quite frankly I see no problem with her statement.
What do you think Skerrit would say if it de shoe was on de other foot…I don’t expect that he would come to her defense
“There are repercussions for this stance. We must all live with the consequences of our actions.
Our citizens can rest assured that I will always make decisions that put Trinidad and Tobago first. CARICOM will not determine our future, only the citizens of our country will choose our path.”
So very well said by the T& T PM. My grandma always warned me about the consequences of my decisions and always reminded me that my decision today can affect even my grandchildren.
So let those greedy and selfish Dom-in- a-cans continue to just think about the Ham and Turkey they might lose if they stand up against the Evil of their evil and corrupt leader and they will see who will be affected tomorrow.
I also want to remind Dom-in-a-cans of the following:
Skerrit and Melissa’s children were born in the US and won’t be affected by the US visa requirements. Is that so with ur children?
Melissa is Cabadian citizen and can run ar will. can you?
Skerrit is a diplomat and can run…
You are sure entitled to your own opinion, however, I don’t share those thoughts.
The present PM of T&T is a renegade. She seems to have an abiding resentment for most of the other Caribbean territories with a majority black population. I cannot forget her crass remarks when Hurricane Maria devastated Dominica. Most f the other Caribbean countries, organizations forgave Dominica of the debts owed to them. This very lady initially refused stating that Trinidad was to ATM for any island. Later, after being castigated she apologised.
The lady is literally making merry because Antigua & Barbuda and Dominica are caught up in.Donald’s conundrum. Awful Lady!
well there is a history of the same whip used to beat the black horse being the same whip used to beat the white horse….. so just wait and see. She’ll have her own soon enough.
Point well taken, regarding as to what Trinidad did to Dominica following Hurricane Maria, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominica%E2%80%93Trinidad_and_Tobago_relations
The question I would, like to ask was it necessary for Kamla Persad-Bissessar to make such statement, whose interest does it serve, is it really in the interest of the people of Trinidad and Tobago or is this part of the divide and rule strategy taking place in our Hemisphere to destroy The CARICOM institution of which Kamla Persad-Bissessar is a cog in wheel to carry out that plan. We are living in interesting times, geopolitics has entered our region in a sinister way.
“An organisation that chooses to disparage our greatest ally the United States but lends support to the Maduro narco-government headed by a dictator who has imprisoned and killed thousands of civilians and opposition members as well as threatened two CARICOM members is one that has clearly lost its way.”
The greatest ally part is debatable but it’s a fact that thousands have been imprisoned and killed under Chavez and Maduro’s regime and I’m not sure which is the other CARICOM country she’s referring to but our own government just stood by as Venezuela’s military was threatening Guyana’s sovereignty in the Esequibo region.
It’s pretty clear that everybody is just acting in their best interests (as she herself is clearly doing) so the people who will try to turn this into some kind of moral argument are just intellectually deficient or dishonest.
@hmmm. What is the source of your fact??? Please don’t come here with US propaganda.
Trinidad and Tobago by the pronouncement of their prime minister, Kamla Per-Sad Bissesser, has completely severed relations with the rest of CARICOM.
What the United States has proposed to do to Antigua & Barbuda and Dominica can have very devastating economic consequences for these two countries. Shockingly, the prime minister of T&T is rubbing this in the faces of the people of these two relatives. Incredible!
Should the other members of CARICOM look to salvage whatever is left of the relationship with Trinidad and Tobago? Should they ostracized Kamla?
We are stronger and better together. So, why can’t we work closely together for the betterment of one another?
When we work as a team wonder things can be achieved. If we are divided among ourselves on ideological lines, we open our doors to foreign intervention and its potentially harmful consequences.
So why didn’t Dominica and St. Vincent stand up for their CARICOM ally Guyana when the government of Venezuela was threatening them?
That’s not quite honest. A representative faction of CARICOM membership got together in St. Vincent and held discussions with both aggrieved parties. As a result, the tension eased unfortunately though only temporarily. It’s not an accurate assertion to posit that they did nothing.
It’s time for us to be more mature. Not because I did not do the right thing previously, given a second chance, I should use the convenient excuse not to do the right thing this time around.
To justify a wrong with a wrong only serve to escalate conflicts.
So very well said, @Ibo France. Let’s not forget this is a dispute that goes back to 1824, more than 200 years. Every Venezuelan government has maintained the claim to two-thirds of Guyana. CARICOM has always supported a negotiated solution.
Beautiful response, You just got 1 mark out 100. Its good that you changed your tune because several thousand times you have done the opposite of what you are now requesting: attacking, bullying and insulting people daily.
Its easy to say the right thing to look good in the moment, For years your hypocrisy and biasness irritated me as you incessantly comment on nearly every article but I let you be, “agree to disagree” “respect people’s freedom” and all that, always ignoring you while trying to read and learn.
The straw that broke the camel’s back is when you responded to one of my very rare comments that “it was not my damn business” to comment on a public site for an innocuous comment that had nothing to do with you. That was a sickness of ego and I felt compelled to address it.
If you can maintain this good approach you will have earned my respect “if it good say it good”
But I will be watching you and adding my two cents, karma sounds too much like fantasy…but remember to be responsible, cause and effect is real.
The Question you asked is there you just don’t want to look, and why choose Dominica and St. Vincent as your scapegoat.
https://newsday.co.tt/2025/03/05/meeting-planned-to-discuss-guyana-venezuela-dispute/
https://wicnews.com/saint-vincent-grenadines/st-vincent-pm-urges-calm-as-tensions-between-trinidad-and-venezuela-escalates
I hope that you are honestly looking for the answer you asked, but again we all have different ways of interpreting
things.
I love this lady! As solid as a rock! She reminds me of the once powerful IRON LADY OF THE CARIBBEAN our very own, the legendary Mamo. To this day many people still believe she had Bore-ULLS
.
This Caricom Cabal must be demolished asap, by ANY means necessary and bring the reputation of this once prestigious organization back to the forefront. I am no fan of DT but he has my support 1000000000% in this regard. These rouges and vagabond posing as leaders in the Caribbean must be uprooted and sent to jail in Miami. The likes of Chichi and his counterparts must feel the heat like a red hot iron rod up their anal cavity. Enough is enough and we must break free from such bondage.
T&T must remain resilient in the position for we are doomed if we refuse to see the bigger picture as it pertains to current geopolitical affairs in our backdoor. LONG LIVE KAMALA!
She is not any solid rock but a miserable alcoholic who thousands of people were crazy enough to make prime minister. She is racist and that’s what we are seeing in action.
well Galileo, when hyenas don’t like you, so as Donald Trump.. they are branded racist….
@Brain Damage, your moniker explains your incoherence in this post. I’ll say no more about it, and address Bwa-Banday instead. It’s an insult to compare this drunken, racist thug to Eugenia Charles. Would Mamo have said of Dominicans who were murdered at sea, kill them all violently? It was Mamo who took the police force to task for protecting those among them who killed Johnrose Lindsay. Would Mamo have scrapped a programme that employed over 10, thousand poor people and two more than employed thousands more simply because the beneficiaries are black? Would she have threatened carnival because, well, I hope you get the picture. So don’t insult the memory of Eugenia Charles by comparing this despotic angel of evil to her