Former Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley is calling on the Trinidad and Tobago government to disclose how many nationals have had their United States visas revoked after Washington said visas had been canceled for reasons including conduct that “endangered national security.”
In a statement posted to Facebook on Monday, Rowley questioned whether the government had reported Trinidad and Tobago nationals to US authorities for possible visa cancellation.
Rowley noted that calls had previously been made by individuals in Trinidad and Tobago for his US visa, as well as that of former Prime Minister Stuart Young, to be canceled.
He also said that, more recently, members of the ruling United National Congress (UNC) and people close to the party had been warning citizens about potentially losing their US visas.
Rowley said he wanted to thank US authorities “for going public to tell the traumatized citizenry in this country the conditions under which visas are revoked”.
According to Rowley, the US Department of State said in a news release on Aug. 10 that visas had been revoked from individuals who violated the terms of their US visas, committed crimes, called for violence against US citizens, defrauded Americans, abused the immigration system or endangered national security.
Rowley questioned whether he or Young had committed any of the offenses cited by the US government.
“Today I want to ask Mrs. Kamla Persad-Bissessar and all the others who made this call and even wrote to the US Government calling for the visas of both Stuart Young and Rowley to be canceled: which of these offenses were they guilty of?”
He also questioned the circumstances surrounding the cancellation of the visa of a person he described as a close associate and messenger of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
“Incidentally, is the Prime Minister prepared to share with the country which of these offenses her close friend and messenger violated, resulting in the cancellation of his visa well before she came into office?”
Rowley further called on Persad-Bissessar to disclose whether her government had communicated with US authorities about other Trinidad and Tobago nationals.
He asked the prime minister to “tell the country, besides Rowley and Young, how many other citizens she and her Government have reported to the US Government with a recommendation to have their visas canceled?”
Rowley’s comments come amid heightened attention in Trinidad and Tobago over US visa revocations and the circumstances under which Washington can cancel visas held by foreign nationals.
caribbeannationalweekly.com
