A diplomatic dispute has emerged after the Embassy of Antigua and Barbuda in Washington, D.C. issued a formal letter to U.S. House Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina, pushing back against restrictive immigration legislation she introduced on July 15. Titled the Third World Immigration Moratorium Act, Mace’s proposal places Antigua and Barbuda among 40 nations targeted for sweeping new U.S. immigration limits.
In the correspondence, which was also circulated to top House leadership, Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the U.S., Sir Ronald Sanders, made clear that while the small Caribbean nation fully upholds the right of U.S. legislators to draft and introduce immigration policy, any measure impacting a friendly foreign nation must be rooted in verified, accurate data rather than misinformation.
Sanders first pushed back against a long-running factual error first included in U.S. Presidential Proclamation 10998, which claims Antigua and Barbuda operates a Citizenship by Investment (CBI) program with no residency requirement. The ambassador emphasized that the country’s CBI framework has always maintained mandatory residency conditions, a fact that Antigua and Barbuda’s government has formally communicated to U.S. authorities on multiple prior occasions.
Beyond the CBI misinformation, Sanders flagged a fundamental drafting error in Mace’s legislation that incorrectly separates “Antigua” and “Barbuda” as two distinct sovereign states, rather than the single unified independent nation that has existed for decades. This mistake, Sanders argued, underscores the critical need for thorough fact-checking before advancing legislation that impacts the standing and interests of allied countries.
The ambassador also pushed back against the unfair categorization of Antigua and Barbuda alongside nations grappling with armed conflict, systemic economic collapse, and mass irregular migration. Sanders noted that Antigua and Barbuda is an upper-middle-income economy with one of the highest per capita GDPs in the Caribbean. It is a longstanding stable parliamentary democracy built on the rule of law, with an independent judiciary and robust democratic institutions that command trust both from its own population and global partners.
Addressing the unstated implication that Antigua and Barbuda poses comparable immigration or national security risks to other nations on the list, Sanders highlighted the deep, mutually beneficial bilateral ties between the two countries. U.S. citizens enjoy visa-free travel to Antigua and Barbuda, thousands own property and operate businesses there, and American investment has long been protected and encouraged under the Caribbean nation’s laws. The two countries also maintain close collaboration across a wide range of areas including security cooperation, law enforcement, disaster response, education, tourism, and bilateral trade.
Cross-border movement between the two nations has remained orderly and fully compliant with immigration rules for decades, Sanders added. He shared concrete data to back this claim: no citizen of Antigua and Barbuda has ever applied for refugee status in the U.S., the national rate of visa overstays has held steady at just over one percent for years, and Antigua and Barbuda has always cooperated fully with U.S. immigration agencies to facilitate the prompt return of any of its nationals subject to lawful removal orders.
In closing, Sanders formally requested that Mace revisit the inclusion of Antigua and Barbuda in the proposed act, and commit to grounding any future policy considerations impacting the country in accurate, up-to-date information.