No US request for Guyana to take Venezuelan deportees

Last Updated on Thursday, 30 January 2025, 19:21 by Writer

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday said the United States (US) has not asked Guyana to accept Venezuelan deportees if Caracas refuses to allow planeloads of deported persons from the US, but he declined to say whether the Guyana government would favourably consider such a request.

President Irfaan Ali and new US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio on January 28, discussed, among other issues, the crisis of illegal migration and agreed to jointly address this regional imperative and challenge.

But Mr Jagdeo told a news conference that the US has not requested that Guyana takes Venezuelan deportees. “We have not been asked to take Venezuela refugees or deportees from the US government,” he said in a terse response.

Pressed on what would be Guyana’s position if asked by the US administration to accept the Venezuelan deportees, he declined to respond to a question without a basis or evidence. “I can’t deal with hypotheticals now. They may never ask. That is a matter that has to be considered carefully but we have not been asked. We’ve not been asked to take Venezuelan deportees,” he said.

Reuters news agency reported on Wednesday that US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem cut the duration of deportation protections for 600,000 Venezuelans in the US as the Trump administration searches for ways to ramp up removals of Venezuelan nationals.

She said sending migrants to the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was being evaluated by the administration.

Against that background, Mr Jagdeo remarked, “I see the United States is exploring other plans…A 30,000 facility at Guantanamo Bay that they are refurbishing to hold migrants there.”

Guantanamo houses a migrant facility—separate from the high-security U.S. prison—that has been used on occasion for decades, including to house Haitians and Cubans picked up at sea.