Visitors ‘must satisfy entry criteria’- T&T National Security

(Trinidad Express) Immigration authorities have the right to refuse entry to any person who is unable to satisfy the criteria for entering this country. This according to a release from the National Security Ministry yesterday on the heels of a report that 13 Jamaicans were refused entry into this country this week. According to the release, the perception being propagated is that immigration officers acted in an arbitrary and inappropriate manner. It noted that immigration officers are staff of the National Security Ministry as the first point of contact at the nation’s borders, and “must act with integrity, fairness and within the ambit of the Immigration Act”. “Therefore, if based on statistics from the Division’s Investigations and Extensions sections and records of the Immigration Detention Centre, there is a likelihood that a passenger, based on past behaviour, for example, is unable to satisfy the interviewing officer that he or she will comply with regulations under which they were admitted, then the officer must be guided by these facts in making his deliberation,” stated the release. It noted that statistics show that for the period 2010 to 2013, some 54,362 Jamaican nationals were admitted to this country. A total of 1,962 Jamaican nationals were refused entry for various reasons. The release stated this signifies that 96 per cent of Jamaican nationals seeking entry into Trinid­ad and Tobago over that four-year period were given admittance. The release pointed out that the duties of an immigration officer at the nation’s ports of entry include, as a national security function, the screening of domestic and international passengers to determine admissibility. It noted that the Immigration Act states all people seeking entry into Trinidad and Tobago must submit themselves to be interviewed by an immigration officer. “The decision as to whether a passenger is deemed admissible or not is informed by a number of considerations: among them, regional and international migration trends, and if the person is an undesirable or would become a charge on public funds,” stated the release. “In addition, officers are guided by periodic reports which are generated from activities within other sections in the division,” it added. “As a member state of Caricom, we as a country agreed that while there should be no unreasonable restrictions on the movement of Caricom nationals within our region, we must be concerned with the protection of public morals and the maintenance of public order and safety,” stated the release. “It must be established that the passenger either has sufficiency of funds, has a private person with whom they will stay or proof that they have an established place of residence for their period of stay,” it continued. The release added that the Government was committed to honouring the Treaty Establishing the Caribbean Community and Common Market signed at Chaguaramas on July 4, 1973. It further noted the Declaration of Grand Anse and other decisions of the Conference of Heads of Government, in particular the commitment to deepening regional economic integration through the establishment of the Caricom Single Market and Economy. “In this regard, the Trinidad and Tobago Government upholds the view that nationals of the Cari­com region should be afforded the freedom to commute between countries throughout the region whenever it is believed to be appropriate,” stated the release.