By GHK Lall- Oftentimes when developments are too neat for comfort, the discomforts come later. Assurance or premonition, either falls in place, shows its head in due course. Take this slowly thickening issue of deportations. To Guyana, is where my focus lies, my interest is. I foresee some teeth with this, and with increasing sharpness, as the releases trickle into the public consciousness. Be informed that this is not a comment on President Trump’s deportation objectives, nor his orders. Specifically, the significance and impact(s) on Guyana are where my chips are concentrated.
Once Mr. Trump sleeps in the White House, deportations had to begin, then takeoff on an accelerating engine. He wasted no time on this most emotional of issues to his support base. It has been gas and more gas. Because there is knowledge of people overstaying their visa permits, and that there are other Guyanese in holding pens, there had to be some number of locals about ready for air travel.
The second group of Guyanese were those who committed some crime, were caught, and waiting for the cane to descend, meaning, a plane trip home. The overall total is 1236 Guyanese. President Ali and US Secretary Rubio made their minds meet during their first talking. I accept that rejected Guyanese have a home here, regardless of their lapses. Their problem is our problem. Then the deportation issue became muddy; perhaps, I should say muddier, but in an even smoggier manner. Follow this, folks.
Off went Excellency Ali and Vice President Jagdeo to America in the stillness of silence. Look, they are grown men, not answerable to anybody, most of all Guyana’s peasants. The timing of their secret mission was impeccable. Some may say random, the way the calendar flips. I stand by impeccable. For who was there in the U.S. at the same hour? It was both of bhais Ali and Jagdeo best friend, one Sree Narendra Modi, he of BJP supremacy and, for the edification of the disinterested, the master operator from subcontinent India. Trump and Modi, man that’s enough to stop me dead in my tracks.
Donald Trump, Narendra Modi, and Bharrat Jagdeo in the same space holding the same head on the same issue is the equivalent of World War III for me. The issue is deportation and who is going to take who. My heartfelt apology to Excellency Ali for consigning him to the sidelines. But deportation intricacies are matters for big men with big heads housing big brains. Unfortunately, Excellency Ali failed to measure up on one of those three criteria. He gets to do the mop up work.
That is, to inform the nation in a rather tightlipped, sketchy way about some White House list and which places are on it, relative to who from where goes where. I hope that I am not on any list. Extradition or deportation. Sometimes I am too wise for my own good, but check who I am dealing with, however tricky: A & J.
For almost in an afterthought slip, Dr. Ali shared that Guyana is on Mr. T’s list for possible acceptance of deportees from Africa and Asia. Suddenly, the Ali-Jagdeo US visit looks deeper, given that Modi was making his tight two-day rounds, and with deportation of 725,000 of his people hanging over his head. A list, a number, a visit, a few leaders, a confluence of developments, all of sudden do not look so random, so unconnected. I haul out the sledgehammer. If Guyana is on the list of countries as a probable destination of deportees from Africa and Asia, then that bit about ‘probable’ (destination) could be swiftly and easily smashed.
In my Bible, if Donald Trump (Mr.) said it is so, then it is so. Done deal, fellow Guyanese. From Mr. Trump’s perspective, Guyana has everything that makes it the best reception lobby for deportees from Africa and Asia. The mathematics are favorable (lots of land space, plus Essequibo needs plenty bodies). The statistics are healthy, population density is thin (Essequibo again). And the demographics gleam with their own bright smiles: people who trace their origins all the way back to Africa and Asia.
When I say Asia, not too many Chinese, if any, are involved for dispatch to these hospitable climes. All of this makes sense for Mr. Trump, and for the Ali-Jagdeo axis of (of), I settle for wisdom. It’s the perfect storm, with one more thing to be said. C’mon people, why do I have to be the bad guy most of the time.
The more deportees they are, the more potential votes there will be. The more from a certain place on Mr. Trump’s list, the happier Ali and Jagdeo are. For those who thought that Dr. Jagdeo was losing his edge, please yank the thought. His head, yes; but not his edge when elections and power (and oil) are in the mix. All that is left to discuss between Jagdeo and Rubio is the ratio of African deportees to Asian deportees. Recall I said that the Chinese don’t feature in the list or this conversation. Hence, the submarine journey of Drs. Ali and Jagdeo always did have meaning. Guyanese and the opposition could take matters from here.
