In a landmark address marking the start of his 12-month term as chairman of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Authority, Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda has announced a firm rejection of a United States deportation proposal that would have sent 120 deportees annually to the small twin-island nation, countering with a binding self-imposed cap of no more than 10 deportees per year.
Browne used his first public address in the new OECS leadership role to highlight the mounting geopolitical pressures that small island developing states face, and to underscore the critical need for coordinated regional cooperation to address these shared external challenges. The prime minister made clear that his administration has pushed back against coercive pressure from Washington to accept a dramatically higher volume of deportees, most notably individuals with prior criminal convictions that Browne argues pose a clear threat to Antigua and Barbuda’s domestic public safety.
“We have been coerced to take these deportees, encouraged by the great United States, and if we don’t cooperate, they punish us,” Browne told attendees of the OECS gathering Sunday. “As the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, I cannot willingly cooperate with any other power, any country, to destroy our beautiful twin-island state. And we have insisted that we will not accept any criminal elements.”
The prime minister framed the counterproposal as a balanced compromise that preserves willingness to cooperate while protecting the nation’s sovereign interests. “We want to be cooperative, so we are not being uncooperative here. But this idea that they could send us 120 individuals, we’ve said to them that is totally unacceptable,” he explained. “We have sent them a counterproposal. We said that we’ll accept 10 annually, no more than 10. So I hope that this will not result in any acrimony and further restrictions, but that they will respect our position and respect our sovereign right to determine how many of those individuals we accept.”
Despite taking a firm stance on the deportation cap, Browne emphasized that Antigua and Barbuda remains fully committed to its long-standing mutually beneficial partnership with the United States, and acknowledges Washington’s sovereign authority to set its own immigration and border security policies.
“We acknowledge the sovereign right of all states to determine their border security policies. We ask only that such rights be exercised with due regard for a historically close and mutually beneficial relationship,” he said.
Browne also warned that punitive economic or travel restrictions imposed on Caribbean nations would backfire for the United States, pointing to the sizable US trade surplus with the region. “Our people purchase American goods, use American financial services, and send their children to American universities,” he noted. “We are beneficial partners for the American economy, not adversaries to be restricted.”
The prime minister additionally raised concerns about the disproportionate harm that new travel restrictions would inflict on Caribbean diaspora communities, the largest of which is based in the United States, and separated family ties that span both regions. “We need to ensure that the diaspora here in the Caribbean and certainly our people in the United States can move freely,” he said.
Reaffirming shared priorities between the two nations, Browne stressed that Antigua and Barbuda will continue collaborating with the US on issues of common interest, including countering transnational drug trafficking and organized crime. “We particularly stand with the U.S. in opposing drug trafficking and organized crime. That is our mutual interest. We too want to make sure that we have safe and secure societies,” he said.
Browne’s assumption of the OECS Authority chairmanship comes as the bloc prioritizes deeper regional integration, strengthened economic resilience, and collective action to address the unique systemic challenges facing small island developing states across the Eastern Caribbean, from climate change to external geopolitical pressures.