A public dispute over reported United States visa actions against top Trinidad and Tobago officials has intensified this week, after the country’s Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs issued a formal denial of one key claim from a recent local newspaper investigation.
Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Sean Sobers released an official statement via his social media channels on Saturday pushing back against a weekend report published by the *Trinidad Express*, written by journalist Mark Bassant. The report had claimed that a sitting cabinet minister in Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s ruling administration had their US travel visa revoked, and that a senior judicial officer was facing scrutiny over their own visa status.
Sobers emphasized in his statement that no current government minister has had their US visa canceled, adding a critical clarification: the Government of Trinidad and Tobago holds no authority over either the issuance or revocation of United States visas, so any changes to visa status are the sole decision of American authorities.
The *Sunday Express* investigation, however, outlined weeks of attempts to get comment from the implicated minister that went unanswered. Reporters first reached out via WhatsApp on October 2; while the message was marked as read that same day, no response was provided. Multiple follow-up messages sent through the following week, as well as at least two phone calls, received no reply. A final round of outreach on Friday proved equally fruitless: one call was answered before it was immediately disconnected, and subsequent WhatsApp messages were read but never replied to.
On the matter of the senior judicial officer, the report confirmed that the official had been summoned to the US Embassy in Port of Spain, but the meeting was framed as work-related. Speaking to the outlet on condition of anonymity, the judicial officer shared that they had explicitly asked if the summons would impact their visa status, and embassy officials confirmed that it would not.
Citing unnamed sources within Trinidad and Tobago’s immigration and national security sectors, the report added that the recent wave of US visa revocations and suspensions has impacted far more people than the single cabinet member claim. Sources told the newspaper that at least six local immigration officers and one police officer assigned to an elite unit of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) have been affected. Overall, insiders estimate that nearly 50 people across multiple public and private sectors could be impacted by the ongoing US review of visa eligibility.
When contacted by the *Sunday Express* for comment, the US Embassy in Port of Spain declined to speak on individual cases, referencing longstanding rules around the confidentiality of visa application and holder records. A spokesperson for the embassy did confirm that US authorities conduct ongoing reviews of visa eligibility, and that revocations are issued when new information confirms an individual no longer meets the requirements for entry under US immigration law.
This is not the first time such visa actions have made headlines in the country this year. Back in June, Attorney General John Jeremie told Parliament that the US had revoked visas for a number of Trinidad and Tobago business community members. At that time, Jeremie similarly stressed that all decisions around visa status are made exclusively by American authorities, and that the Trinidad and Tobago government has no input or role in the process.