Amid ongoing regional negotiations with the United States over immigration resettlement, Prime Minister Gaston Browne has laid out Antigua and Barbuda’s non-negotiable conditions for accepting third-country nationals that Washington cannot repatriate to their home countries, drawing a firm line on additional LGBTQ asylum seekers and tying the policy to the small island nation’s limited domestic resources.
In an appearance on the *Browne and Browne Show* this past Saturday, Browne referenced a recent case in neighboring St. Kitts and Nevis, where three third-country nationals were resettled under the US-led framework. According to information Browne received, two of those three individuals identify as LGBTQ. “I’m told the three that were sent to St. Kitts, two of them are LGBTQIAs,” Browne said, adding, “We have enough of those here.”
The prime minister was quick to frame the government’s position as rooted in practical concerns rather than discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, pointing to three core priorities: national security, public health, and the country’s strained public finances. “We do not want people who are criminals. We don’t want people who are sick. We do not want anyone who is going to become a charge [on the state],” he explained.
Under the terms Antigua and Barbuda has put forward during negotiations, any individual accepted under the resettlement arrangement must pass rigorous, comprehensive security and medical screenings before they are allowed to enter the country. Additionally, the government has demanded that all resettled individuals hold valid, official travel documents from their countries of origin, rejecting the proposal that they enter with temporary documentation issued by US authorities.
Browne confirmed that Antigua and Barbuda has left the door open to a limited annual intake, offering to consider accepting up to 10 third-country nationals per year. This offer, however, remains contingent on all applicants meeting the strict vetting requirements: no serious criminal record, no threat to national security, no public health risks, and full compliance with the government’s entry criteria.
The prime minister emphasized that the island nation’s small geographic size and constrained public infrastructure make absorbing large numbers of resettled people unfeasible. He noted that once temporary US-funded support for resettled individuals expires, any long-term social assistance would fall to Antigua and Barbuda’s government, a burden the country cannot sustain at higher intake levels.
Going forward, Browne confirmed that negotiating teams will continue talks with US officials, but the country will not compromise on its sovereign right to control who enters and establishes residence within its borders. The current talks between Antigua and Barbuda and the US are part of a broader diplomatic push by Washington, which has been negotiating with multiple Caribbean governments to resettle third-country nationals that cannot be sent back to their countries of origin as a key component of Washington’s wider immigration enforcement strategy.