In my previous piece entitled “What Trump 2.0 could mean for the Caribbean Region”, only one month after his re-election as President of the United States of America, I argued, that his campaign of extreme nationalism and jingoism, exemplified in his mandate to ‘rid America of the immigrant problem through mass deportations’ as these migrants were ‘poisoning the blood’ of America, had significant implications for the Caribbean Region.
I argued in part that, “the implications for the Caribbean are a general sentiment of fear of migration to the US as they will experience a lack of sense of belonging as they search for a better life, and a concomitant fear by those who voted for ‘closed borders’ of all who are not the blood of America i.e., Caribbean peoples.”
Further, “and more directly, if there are Caribbean peoples, who are ‘illegal migrants’, working and providing remittances to their families back home, one can potentially see a massive reduction in the country’s remittances income, which contribute towards healthcare, education among other areas. The reduction will exacerbate poverty, which has wider economic impacts for the Caribbean economy. Further, there may be deeper fiscal and political strains on other Caribbean countries which would not be able to handle this sudden migration flows.”
Already, days into the Trump Presidency, the chickens are coming home to roost as his administration has commenced massive deportation of ‘illegal migrants.’ It is alleged via a document circulating online that the Caribbean countries, such as Saint Lucia may have approximately 202 illegal migrants. Other Caribbean countries such as Trinidad and Tobago with 1,197, St. Kitts 68, St. Vincent and the Grenadines 127, Suriname 137, Antigua and Barbuda 110, Bahamas 426, Barbados 151, and Jamacia 5,120.
Not only has there been a deafening and chilling silence from the leadership of CARICOM, but there continues to be a deeper silence from individual Prime Ministers in the region on the interventions that their countries are willing to make to fully integrate our peoples into our societies and accept our people, with open hands and hearts.
I guess that the Heads of Government will await the upcoming CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting in February to address and alert the public of the region on their interventions to integrate our citizens into the Caribbean societies. Such a long wait for such timely decisions, recognising the ongoing deportations, in such large scale, is perhaps one of the reasons why Prime Minister of Barbados Hon. Mia Amor Mottley, who is also currently the Chair of CARICOM has always called for the Heads to meet more frequently, in order to deal with pressing issues as they arise. At the very least, there should have been a meeting of the COHSOD i.e., the Ministers in the Council of Human and Social Development, in order to map out interventions to deal with this issue.
But, notwithstanding these formalities, one would have hoped that the lightening diplomatic rapidity which caused our Prime Ministers to congratulate the President on his win, and wallow about the sustaining of the continued mutual relationship based on friendship, complementarity, and other diplomatic niceties, would be the same rapidity which is utilised for an announcement of the interventions which must be made for our citizens. As the young people in our generation normally say, ‘Keep the same energy.’ In fact, our Caribbean region has much to learn from the sharp rebuke of Patrick Harvie, Co-Leader of the Scottish Green Party in the Parliament of Scotland, as he critiqued the country’s tone of their congratulatory message to President Trump. At least, some politicians are still willing to stand for something.
But, notwithstanding these niceties, and the ‘simulated relationship of mutuality’ that was embedded in the online posts of our Caribbean leaders, it has stopped the slew of Executive Orders which have ideological and practical negative implications for the Caribbean. One only has to point to the removal of the US from the Paris Agreement, WHO, reversal of instances of black history from institutions of the Government, and the removal of DEI as a key consideration in America. Our silence or palpable confusion on our approach in light of the above continues to be worrying, particularly knowing the old adage that when America coughs, we catch the cold.
But, even before I provide some basic recommendations on what we must do as a people as we seek to reintegrate our peoples back into our society, one must understand that the pockets of those in the society who support this move in the name of ‘law’ and ‘order’ must understand that, while some migration is out of ‘desire’, there is a wide cross section of these ‘Saint Lucian immigrants’ who have migrated out of the necessity to rid themselves from the economic morass of our country and the wider Caribbean. Often branded as the ‘American Dream’, the peoples of the Caribbean continue to travel to developed countries in order to make a better life for themselves and provide for their families back at home.’ For many, it is an opportunity to escape unemployment, economic marginalisation, crime and violence, among many other social ills. For those across the globe, it is also an opportunity to escape war, political instability and climate change. This has been the American promise by the way.
As such, while our immediate retort, may be to condemn the actions, almost forgetting that ‘Who feels it knows it’, and that we may all know someone who is in such a position, and someone else who has and continues to benefit from the remittances or ‘the barrel child’ of these individuals, it is important to step back and reflect on the pull and push factors of migration. It is even more important for us to not lean into the immediate temptation of ‘lack of resources’ or ‘resource constrains.’
However, this is an opportunity for our leaders to lead. As such, we must almost immediately put in place a plan of action which seeks to do the following. Of course, it is not an exhaustive list, but some thoughts which can guide our policy action.
- Reimmerse our people back into our society and call for our people to show them respect, dignity and honour. It is important for our society to not brand these individuals as ‘criminals’ and as thus shunning them as if they are not ‘Saint Lucians.’
- Ensure that we provide short term employment, financing and training opportunities for them in order to economically empower them to contribute for themselves and their families.
- Almost immediately integrate them into our social services and social safety net in order for them to feel a sense of belonging.
- Provide ‘lifelong learning opportunities’ for those who may be older among the migrants, in order to learn a skill which can be utilised for economic empowerment.
- Call for a level of tolerance and cultural immersion, recognising that it is possible that many of these peoples may not have been to Saint Lucia in such a long time and much may have changed from their time in Saint Lucia.
- Find a mechanism to understand the unique contributions of these migrants and see how it can be deliberately included in our development, recognising that they are not ‘wanton criminals’ but individuals who have contributed to the bedrock of the American economy and can also to do that to ours.
- Provide psycho-social support to these individuals recognising that they will be experiencing trauma and pain from this experience.
- Also, by extension provide financial, and other forms of economic support in the short-term for their families, who may be relying almost exclusively on remittances. Our data suggest that personal remittances received in Saint Lucia accounted for 2.6% of our GDP in 2023. Obviously, it does not mean that every percentage or cent may come from these individuals, but there is an arguable case to be made as to the extent of these remittances which may actually come from these individuals.
The data from the International community also tells us that Saint Lucian household would be 5 percentage points higher in Saint Lucia if recipient households had not received remittances. As, such the situation would reduce inflows to Saint Lucia by around USD 8 million dollars and put further stress on local recipients at a time when their dependence on these funds will be increased.
This crisis presents an opportunity for our leadership to rise to the occasion and portray particularly in this period of independence that no matter where they voyage or go, they can be guided back home, and come back to their land of birth, to the place they love, as said by Sly in this iconic song, “Dam Proud Lucian.”
