Guyana-born Venezuelan allowed to register in Trinidad

A Guyanese-born, naturalized Venezuelan, Greensley Lael Henry is hoping he can be registered along with other Venezuelan nationals at Achievors Banquet Hall, San Fernando. Photo: Lincoln Holder

(Trinidad Newsday) Guyana-born Venezuelan Greensley Lael Edson Henry, 43, has registered at he San Fernando centre of the amnesty drive.

Henry said he was previously told to go back to Guyana “because things are looking good now for that country”.

“I am very happy. The immigration officers were very pleasant and everything went smoothly. In Port of Spain, the officers were also very nice except for one woman. Thank you,” Henry said late yesterday.

His wish came true hours after the National Security Minister said the decision to allow or not allow to him to register lies in the hands of immigration officers.

“I rely on the immigration officers; they do this on a daily basis at all our legal ports of entry. The immigration officers are the ones who will make the decision. I do not have the papers in front of me, I only saw what was reported in the media,” Stuart Young told Newsday yesterday during a visit to the Duncan Village registration centre.

Young said he trusts immigration officers, who were professionals and the people who have been dealing with such situations before the registration process. He believes they will do what is right.

On Saturday, Henry and his family went to register at the Port of Spain centre but he was the only member of the family whom immigration officials rejected. Instead, Henry said, they suggested he go and live in his birth country, where “things are looking good now.”

The father of four showed his Venezuelan passport and identification card and explained that he moved to Venezuela as a child and lived there. His wife and two of his children are Venezuelans.