A key regional security leader has delivered a landmark clarification for Caribbean nations navigating U.S. pressure to accept relocated third-country nationals (TCNs): nations that opt out of accepting these transfers will face no retaliatory action from Washington.
St. Clair Leacock, St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security and Immigration, took up the annual rotating chairmanship of the eight-nation Regional Security System (RSS), a CARICOM-affiliated security alliance, just last week. Leacock shared details of U.S. responses to regional concerns during a media briefing in Kingstown on Wednesday, following a high-level RSS meeting held last week in St. Lucia.
Since 2023, the U.S. has ramped up diplomatic outreach to Caribbean countries, pressing for them to accept TCNs — non-U.S. citizens who the U.S. is seeking to deport or relocate, who cannot be immediately returned to their home countries. The push sparked widespread anxiety across the Caribbean, with local leaders and communities voicing fears that relocated individuals could include criminals or people deemed undesirable, and that unmanaged arrivals would strain small national social and administrative systems.
Leacock confirmed that the U.S. sent clear written responses to a list of pressing questions raised by RSS member states, addressing everything from penalty threats to documentation, legal status, support funding, and background screening. The most consequential clarification: Washington will not impose any punishments on nations that reject TCN transfers, and each Caribbean nation retains full authority to decide which individuals, if any, it will accept, regardless of whether another Caribbean nation has already rejected that person.
On the question of valid travel documentation — a core concern, since nations without valid documents for TCNs cannot facilitate their onward return to their home countries — the U.S. acknowledged that some individuals may lack official paperwork from their country of origin. However, U.S. officials noted that barriers to return do not stem from formal entry bans or restrictions imposed by the TCN’s home country, and that the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is on hand to support the process of securing replacement documentation, with no major disruptions expected.
The U.S. also confirmed that individual receiving nations retain full authority to set the legal immigration status for any TCNs they agree to accept, in line with their own domestic immigration laws. Washington noted that in past transfer programs, nearly all relocated TCNs prioritize moving onward from the third-country host as quickly as possible, rather than seeking permanent residency. If nations face funding needs beyond the support already offered by IOM, the U.S. has indicated it is open to reviewing additional funding requests on a case-by-case basis.
For all transferred TCNs, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has committed to sharing full available background and health information, including biometric data, date of birth, nationality, whether the individual is traveling with companions, any confirmed criminal history, and pre-travel medical screening records. All transfers include a pre-departure medical clearance check conducted by an in-flight medical professional, covering tuberculosis screening, existing medical conditions, ongoing treatments, and required medications during travel.
The IOM’s global Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) program will lead on facilitating onward movement for TCNs who choose to relocate again, and will cover immediate basic needs including food, shelter, and emergency medical care for up to one week after arrival, while helping TCNs explore options for voluntary return to their home country or relocation to another accepting nation. For any TCNs who choose to remain in the host Caribbean nation, the U.S. confirmed that the host nation may handle the individual in full compliance with its own domestic immigration laws.
Summarizing the U.S. position for the public, Leacock emphasized that the outcome removes the core threat hanging over regional decision-making. “This question of deportees from the United States to Caribbean countries, who generally are not welcoming them with open arms, is that they will not force you. … If you don’t want them, they will not force you, and there will be no penalties for not accepting refugees,” he said. “I think that that came out to be very, very clear. If you do not want and you did not accept, there would be no penalty. So, in the end, it will be left up to the Caribbean countries to accept and or reject deportees coming from the United States of America.”
