The Caribbean nations of Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda have agreed to take in illegal immigrants from third-countries.
Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced, as per Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, “In our discussions with the State Department there has been careful deliberation of the need to avoid receiving violent individuals or individuals who will compromise the security of Dominica. This has been acknowledged and well received by the State Department.”
He explained that the move to accept the migrants was “based on our responsibility to safeguard the wellbeing of our people, particularly their access to lawful travel, education, employment and family connections, while strengthening cooperation between our governments.”
The Office of the Prime Minister for Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, said in a release that the United States “is today the country that hosts the largest number of refugees from across the world,” a matter prompting it to seek the “cooperation of other governments to share the burden, by accepting such non-criminal refugees as they are able to do so safely and lawfully.”
The understanding between Antigua and Barbuda and the United States “Relates only to lawfully screened third-country nationals, including refugees already present in the United States, and only where Antigua and Barbuda is fully satisfied – on the basis of intelligence vetting and national security assessments – that acceptance would pose no risk to the country or its people.”
Last month, the island nation of Palau agreed to take 75 deportees from the United States in exchange for $7.5 million in aid.
