As negotiations over a bilateral migrant transfer agreement continue between Antigua and Barbuda and the United States, the Caribbean nation has laid out a non-negotiable core demand: Washington must cover 100 percent of all costs associated with hosting and supporting any third-country nationals relocated under the deal.
Details of the draft operating procedures, which were publicly disclosed Saturday during Pointe FM’s popular *Browne and Browne Show*, outline an extensive list of expenses that Antigua and Barbuda expects the U.S. to cover. These include accommodation, daily food provisions, medical care, immigration documentation, local transportation, language interpretation services, on-the-ground administration, and site security. The proposed U.S. funding would remain in place for every transferred individual until they either depart the country or secure independent legal status that allows them to reside in Antigua and Barbuda on their own behalf.
Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, emphasized that the government’s primary goal is shielding the nation from unplanned fiscal strain tied to the agreement. “We don’t wish to be burdened financially by these third-country nationals,” Browne stated in his comments on the proposal.
Under the terms laid out in the draft document, no transfers will be permitted to move forward until Antigua and Barbuda formally approves both the financial and operational frameworks of the arrangement. The draft also lays out a coordination structure: it proposes that the United States provide funding to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), or another mutually agreed third-party organization, to manage service delivery and support voluntary return processes for transferred individuals.
Any participating organization would need to finalize its own separate agreement to take on the coordination role. The draft includes a contingency clause: if the third-party organization’s support becomes unavailable, is scaled back, or ends entirely, all new transfers will be halted immediately unless Antigua and Barbuda formally agrees to an alternative arrangement. Crucially, funding for individuals already transferred must continue uninterrupted regardless of any changes to third-party support.
The full-cost funding requirement is one of several key safeguards the Browne administration added to the proposal after rejecting earlier terms put forward by Washington. Antigua and Barbuda has also introduced a strict cap on transfer volumes: no more than seven individuals can be relocated every three months, and every single transfer requires explicit written approval from the Antigua and Barbuda government.
Browne confirmed that the revised draft proposal has already been submitted to U.S. officials for their review and response. As of the latest update, the funding terms have not been finalized by both governments, and no transfers under the proposed framework have been publicly announced.