标签： Trinidad and Tobago

As Trinidad and Tobago’s recently concluded state of emergency (SoE) moves into the rearview mirror, senior political and academic figures are sounding alarms over two major unresolved issues: potential hundreds of millions in state liability for unlawful detentions, and systemic human rights risks stemming from the government’s use of preventive detention orders (PDOs).

People’s National Movement (PNM) Senator Sanjiv Boodhu is the latest to flag the long-term fiscal danger of the emergency measures, which ended Tuesday. In a telephone interview marking the end of the SoE, Boodhu laid out a clear warning: hundreds of individuals detained without criminal charges under PDOs are poised to file compensation claims against the state, a financial burden that will not fall on the current administration alone, but on future governments and coming generations.

“ You cannot detain 600 people under these orders, release them without any charges, and expect them to walk away without seeking damages for violated rights,” Boodhu argued. He drew direct parallels to the 2011 state of emergency, when the PNM inherited pending litigation after taking office and ultimately paid out millions of dollars in compensation to wrongfully detained individuals. Boodhu stressed that history is set to repeat itself without proactive accountability from the current government.

Beyond fiscal risk, Boodhu is calling for full independent auditing of the government’s official data on PDO detentions. Currently, public numbers fail to distinguish between detainees who were issued PDOs before criminal charges were filed, and those who were already facing charges when the preventive orders were implemented. He said the public deserves clear, verified data on how many detainees still have active court cases pending against them, a level of transparency the current administration has not provided. Boodhu also questioned the government’s claims that the SoE successfully reduced crime, calling for the release of granular, community-level crime statistics so citizens can independently evaluate whether the emergency measures delivered tangible public safety benefits. The debate comes as the government weighs advancing the Special Operations Bill (SOB), legislation that would create new targeted security powers for communities grappling with violent crime.

Joining the criticism, leading criminologist Dr. Randy Seepersad has raised fundamental human rights alarms over the confirmed detention numbers. Official data shows 574 people were detained under active PDOs during the SoE, with only 240 facing criminal charges and 334 released without ever being formally accused of a crime. Speaking during an appearance on CCN TV6’s *Morning Edition* on the day the SoE expired, Seepersad said the large share of uncharged detentions cannot be reconciled with basic human rights protections.

“If people are held in lengthy detention without ever being charged, that is a clear signal that the state did not have sufficient evidence to justify depriving them of their freedom in the first place,” Seepersad explained. He went on to outline the long-term, life-altering harm of unnecessary detention, especially for low-income workers who are primary caregivers for their families. Many detainees will lose their jobs as a result of their time in custody, he noted, pushing them deeper into social and economic disadvantage that extends far past their release.

“Deprivation of liberty changes a person’s life in permanent, fundamental ways. Any time the state chooses to exercise these extreme emergency powers, we have to ask what safeguards are in place to prevent abuse,” Seepersad said. He proposed mandatory judicial review as a critical check on preventive detention powers, noting that while the process can cause procedural delays, it sets a high legal bar that forces the state to justify detentions before a neutral third party. That standard protects innocent people from arbitrary deprivation of freedom, he argued.

Seepersad did offer a measured take on the proposed Special Operations Bill, noting that draft legislation includes core judicial safeguards, including independent oversight of security actions, and provisions for targeted social interventions that address the root causes of crime. He backed that approach, saying any long-term crime reduction strategy must invest in wrap-around support including psychologists, social workers, and educators, particularly for vulnerable young people at risk of gang involvement. He also confirmed that his independent analysis of crime data does show an overall drop in both serious and non-serious offending during the duration of the SoE, a rare point of agreement with the government’s public assessment.

A years-long case of unlawful administrative action against a police officer has concluded with a landmark High Court ruling that vindicates the rights of public employees and reinforces constitutional safeguards against punitive action without due process. After more than four years of unpaid suspension that never resulted in criminal charges or formal disciplinary proceedings, Police Constable Miguel Jaikaran Singh has been granted more than $343,800 in compensatory damages by Justice Margaret Mohammed, who ruled that his extended suspension was illegal, unconstitutional, and had devolved into an unapproved penalty.

Singh was attached to the now-disbanded Special Operations Response Team (SORT) when he was placed on suspension effective January 13, 2022. The suspension was tied to an investigation into the 2021 in-custody deaths of Andrew Morris and Joel Balcon, two men arrested in connection with the high-profile kidnapping and murder of Andrea Bharatt. Court records show that Singh and other SORT officers were taken into custody and questioned over the deaths in April 2021, but Singh was released shortly after and never faced any criminal charges or formal disciplinary action connected to the case.

In her sweeping ruling, Justice Mohammed outlined multiple failures on the part of the Police Commissioner that rendered the suspension invalid from the start. First, the official suspension notice failed to meet the mandatory requirements of Regulation 152, as it provided Singh no clear details of the allegations against him. The judge noted that the evidence presented to the court contained no specification of the offense Singh was accused of committing, no rationale for the commissioner’s suspicion, and no justification for the suspension on grounds of public interest or protecting the reputation of the Police Service. “The claimant was suspended without being provided with any clear reasons for his suspension, which is unlawful,” Mohammed wrote in her judgment.

Beyond the flawed initial notice, the court found that the commissioner never conducted any regular review of Singh’s suspension over the entire four-year period. Legal frameworks for police suspensions outline that such a measure is only intended to be a temporary, interim step ahead of planned criminal or disciplinary proceedings, not a permanent status. The commissioner’s argument that an open investigation justified holding Singh on suspension indefinitely was rejected outright by the court.

Most critically, Justice Mohammed ruled that the extraordinary length of Singh’s suspension transformed a temporary administrative measure into a de facto punishment, which directly violates section 129(4) of the national Constitution. That constitutional provision explicitly states that no penalty may be imposed on a public servant outside of formal disciplinary proceedings. “The effect of the claimant’s suspension without the instituting of any disciplinary proceedings or the institution of any criminal charge for over four years has made the claimant’s suspension indefinite which has the effect of making it into a penalty,” the judgment explained.

While Singh continued to receive his base salary during the suspension, he was stripped of multiple work-related allowances. The court awarded him $263,802.56 to compensate for the lost allowances, which included commuted overtime, plain clothing, and meal benefits. An additional $80,000 was granted to cover non-pecuniary harm: Singh documented significant mental distress, public embarrassment, and professional humiliation stemming from the four-year limbo of his unproven suspension.

Justice Mohammed ultimately quashed the Police Commissioner’s December 29, 2021 suspension decision, declaring the entire measure illegal, null, void, and without legal effect. She also ordered the commissioner to cover all of Singh’s legal costs incurred throughout the case. Singh was represented by attorneys Gerald Ramdeen and Dayadai Harripaul, while the commissioner was represented by a legal team including Jinai Chong Sing, Janique Mitchell, Rachel Wright, and Justay Guerra.

With just hours remaining before a nationwide state of emergency (SoE) was set to expire, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar introduced a sweeping new anti-crime bill to parliament on Wednesday, locking in a permanent framework for targeted crackdowns on gangs, illegal firearms, and drug trafficking networks.

Unveiled as the Special Operations Bill (SOB) 2026, the new legislation draws core goals from the earlier Zones of Special Operations (ZOSO) Bill, but includes critical structural changes that ease its path to passage. Unlike the ZOSO Bill, which required a three-fifths supermajority vote to approve, the SOB can pass into law with the governing party’s simple majority, eliminating the need for cross-aisle support to advance the government’s crime-fighting agenda.

In a forceful address to lawmakers gathered at Port of Spain’s Red House, Persad-Bissessar emphasized that the end of the current state of emergency would not mark a retreat in the government’s war on violent organized crime. She warned criminal actors, their financial backers, and enabling associates that “there will be no sanctuary” for them as the transition to the new permanent framework takes effect. “The full lawful power of the State is coming for you,” she declared, drawing thunderous desk-thumping support from governing party legislators.

The core purpose of the SOB is to preserve the security gains made under the outgoing state of emergency without extending the broad temporary emergency powers. Under the legislation, designated policing districts will be established to enable sustained, targeted special operations, backed by the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force when necessary. The Commissioner of Police will appoint a special operations lead for each district, while the Chief of Defence Staff will assign a military liaison for any deployments.

In districts where violent gang activity, illicit weapons trafficking, and widespread drug trade create threats that exceed the capacity of standard policing, authorities will be authorized to temporarily cordon off areas, impose curfews, regulate entry and exit, and exercise enhanced search, seizure, arrest, and detention powers – all of which will remain subject to judicial oversight, the Prime Minister clarified. She stressed that these measures are tailored to target criminal networks, not penalize law-abiding residents: “When gangs impose illegal curfews, extort businesses, recruit children, and drive families from their homes, they attempt to replace the authority of the State with the authority of the criminal gun. This bill gives protective services the lawful power to break that control, restore public safety, and return these areas to the people who live there.”

To counter criticism of uneven application of justice that plagued previous administrations, Persad-Bissessar explicitly rejected what she called a “two-tiered justice system” that allowed well-connected criminals to avoid accountability under the former People’s National Movement (PNM) government. “Criminals operating from upscale Westmoorings, St Clair or Federation Park will be treated in the same manner as those operating from Laventille, Arima or Siparia, or from anywhere else,” she said. “Money will no longer buy immunity, status will not prevent investigation, and political connections will not provide protection.”

The Prime Minister also moved to address longstanding civil society concerns over excessive use of force and abuse of power by embedding strict human rights safeguards into the text of the bill. All officers deployed to special operations, including military personnel, are required to complete training in human rights, lawful use of force, community engagement, and conflict de-escalation. Within cordoned operation areas, all officers must use body-worn cameras, register all deployed weapons, and formally document all resident complaints. Detainees will be guaranteed access to medical care and visitation rights, and all enhanced law enforcement powers remain subject to ongoing judicial review. The bill also mandates formal joint cooperation protocols between police and defence forces, as well as independent standard operating procedures for each service.

To ensure parliamentary transparency, the legislation requires monthly operational reports to be submitted to the Prime Minister and the relevant cabinet ministers overseeing police and national security. An annual public report must also be tabled before the full parliament, creating a formal mechanism for legislative oversight of ongoing special operations. Persad-Bissessar noted that these accountability measures directly address criticisms raised against earlier anti-crime legislation, balancing robust operational power for security services with clear protections for civilian rights.

She also issued a direct challenge to the opposition PNM, saying the party can no longer hide behind procedural objections that derailed the earlier ZOSO Bill. The new legislation, she argued, centers the rights of law-abiding communities that have borne the brunt of gang violence: grieving parents who have lost children to violent crime, families terrorized in their own homes, small business owners facing daily extortion demands, and young people targeted for gang recruitment.

As the current state of expiration came to an end on Thursday, Persad-Bissessar closed her address by repeating her stark warning to criminal networks: the expiration of temporary emergency powers is not a signal of weakened resolve. “The State of Emergency may end, but there will be no sanctuary for you,” she said. “We will find you, dismantle your networks, seize your drugs, guns and criminal proceeds, and bring you before the courts. Your money, status and political connections will not save you. The full lawful power of the State is coming for you.”

Parliament is scheduled to open debate on the Special Operations Bill 2026 tomorrow.

A bitter public political clash has broken out in Trinidad and Tobago over the history of bilateral relations with neighboring Venezuela, as the current national administration works to mend ties fractured by months of rising tensions tied to United States military operations in the Caribbean. Former prime minister and energy minister Stuart Young, a senior figure from the previous People’s National Movement (PNM) government, has publicly pushed back against claims from current officeholders, asserting that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Energy Minister Dr. Roodal Moonilal will not be permitted to “rewrite history” on the Caribbean nation’s diplomatic track record.

The controversy began earlier this week, when Moonilal spoke at a public event in La Brea and praised current Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Sean Sobers for his work repairing what he described as damage to Trinidad and Tobago-Venezuela relations inflicted by the former PNM administration. Moonilal’s comments came after months of escalating diplomatic friction between the two countries, sparked by a large-scale United States military buildup in Caribbean waters and a series of maritime strike operations that preceded the ouster of longtime Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in early January.

Young, who made 13 trips to Caracas during the PNM’s tenure in office and negotiated the high-profile Dragon and Manakin-Cocuina natural gas deals with Venezuelan acting president Delcy Rodriguez, took to Facebook on Wednesday to challenge Moonilal’s narrative. He pointed out that it was Persad-Bissessar and Moonilal who spent years attacking Rodriguez and even called for sanctions against him and former PNM prime minister Keith Rowley as the previous administration carefully managed ties with Trinidad and Tobago’s closest northern neighbor.

“Under the past PNM administration, the bilateral relationship between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela was always strong, stable and respectful, with no declarations of any politician being labeled ‘Persona non Grata,’” Young wrote in his social media post. He added that despite his reluctance to publicly call out a sitting minister, he deemed it his public duty to correct the historical record and hold Moonilal accountable. “No one will be allowed to rewrite history, or pretend that the current prime minister and her government bear no responsibility for the deterioration of state-to-state relations between our two nations,” Young emphasized. In a sharp personal jab, he also suggested that Moonilal should undergo cognitive and mental health testing ahead of an expected cabinet reshuffle.

The roots of the current diplomatic rift stretch back to last September, when the United States launched its military buildup and maritime strike campaign targeting alleged drug trafficking networks operating in the region. From the start of the campaign, Persad-Bissessar has repeatedly voiced unwavering support for U.S. operations, even going so far as to suggest that all drug traffickers should be killed violently. She rejected longstanding regional calls for the Caribbean to remain a “Zone of Peace”, even as the U.S. carried out 69 lethal airstrikes and sea strikes against vessels it claims were linked to “narco-terrorist” groups transiting Caribbean and Eastern Pacific shipping lanes.

Earlier in the escalation of tensions, Persad-Bissessar also pledged unfiltered access to Trinidad and Tobago’s territory and infrastructure for U.S. forces in the event of a Venezuelan attack on neighboring Guyana, a move that drew sharp condemnation from the Maduro administration. In response, top Maduro regime loyalists including Rodriguez issued multiple public warnings and criticisms of the Persad-Bissessar government.

When two Trinidadian fishermen were reported killed by relatives during the fifth U.S. strike in October, Rodriguez labeled Persad-Bissessar’s pro-intervention statements a “self-fulfilling prophecy.” She also publicly pushed back against an outrageous claim from Trinidadian housing minister Phillip Edward Alexander, who claimed India would launch a nuclear strike on Venezuela to defend Trinidad and Tobago. “A nuclear bomb has already exploded in the brain of his government,” Rodriguez responded at the time. She added, “Trinidad and Tobago must think of its own people before it considers attacking Venezuela and renounce its vassalage to the U.S. government, which seeks to steal our vast energy resources. Our people are fully committed to defending our freedom and self-determination through our peaceful diplomacy, and they will never succeed in undermining our sovereignty.”

After Trinidad and Tobago hosted the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Gravely in Port of Spain last year, the Venezuelan National Assembly declared Persad-Bissessar persona non grata. Now, following Maduro’s ouster in January, the Persad-Bissessar government has launched new efforts to repair the fractured bilateral relationship, with Foreign Minister Sobers recently traveling to Caracas for talks with new Venezuelan interim government officials. It remains unclear whether the persona non grata designation for Persad-Bissessar is still in effect under the new administration. Just days ago, the Trinidadian prime minister publicly stated she holds “love” for Rodriguez and hopes to meet with her in the near future, though no meeting has yet been scheduled.

Tensions boiled over into open confrontation at a second special statutory gathering of the Siparia Borough Corporation on Wednesday, culminating in Mayor Doonath Mayrhoo ordering municipal police to escort People’s National Movement (PNM) alderman Christopher Encinas out of the council chamber.

The latest clash comes on the heels of a chaotic meeting one week prior that devolved into shouting matches and verbal insults, ending with a walkout by Encinas, former United National Congress alderman Victor Roberts and other PNM representatives. The PNM now holds a controlling majority on the borough council following three key developments: Roberts crossing the floor to join the party, Siparia West/Fyzabad councillor Jason Ali also switching allegiance, and the recent death of sitting councillor Romona Victor.

In post-meeting media interviews, both top figures traded accusations of improper power grabs, with each side blaming the other for attempting to take unauthorized control of the local government body’s operations.

Mayrhoo explained to reporters that Wednesday’s special meeting had been convened specifically to approve a budget virement needed to cover recently mandated salary increases for daily-rated workers set by the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government, with additional financial and public governance items also added to the official agenda. According to the mayor, all required legislative items on the agenda were ultimately approved by the body.

The core point of contention centered on Encinas’ invocation of Standing Order 8(3), which holds that any decisions made without a valid quorum are legally null and void. While Mayrhoo acknowledged the general validity of this rule, he pushed back on Encinas’ application of it to last week’s meeting, confirming that a quorum was in place when chairmen for the four standing council committees were elected during that gathering.

Following the election of standing committee leaders, Mayrhoo noted he had exercised his mayoral authority to appoint chairmen for all of the corporation’s ad hoc committees, circulating the full list of appointments to every council member as part of this week’s public agenda. Under local governance rules, he emphasized, the mayor holds the exclusive power to fill leadership roles on committees that do not fall under the standing committee structure.

“The PNM secured all four standing committee chairmans through a democratic election aligned with the Standing Orders, and I fully respected that outcome, as those elections are guaranteed by regulation,” Mayrhoo stated. “I followed all legal requirements for that process, and the council elected four PNM members to those roles. I had no objections whatsoever, because they were well within their rights. The problem only arose when I exercised my own clear legal authority to appoint chairmen to non-standing ad hoc committees, which the rules grant directly to this office.”

Addressing the decision to remove Encinas from the chamber, Mayrhoo clarified that the alderman had already been given time to speak, but repeatedly attempted to interrupt proceedings and challenge the chair’s authority while another councillor waited to speak. “Encinas was being openly disrespectful to the chair, and his allotted speaking time had already expired,” the mayor explained. “I did not suspend him permanently. I simply asked him to step outside for five minutes to cool off, and requested municipal police to escort him out to maintain order.”

Mayrhoo further alleged that the PNM caucus is intentionally working to engineer quorum failures and derail the corporation’s core public services to consolidate power. “This administration will not allow the PNM to hijack this local government body,” he said. “If we need to resolve this through the courts, or if the PNM chooses to take legal action, we are fully prepared to defend our position.”

For his part, Encinas pushed back with a starkly different account of the conflict. He argued that the entire previous statutory meeting was legally invalidated when PNM members walked out, which he claims left the body without a quorum, meaning all decisions taken at that gathering – including the standing committee elections – are null and void.

“We expected the mayor to call an entirely new meeting to address all committee leadership appointments, as required by the rules,” Encinas said. “Our reading of the standing orders is clear: if a meeting ends without a quorum, the entire meeting and all decisions made during it are invalid. The mayor simply refused to acknowledge that basic rule.”

Encinas claimed that instead of opening the committee leadership process up for debate, Mayrhoo tabled a pre-arranged list of ad hoc committee chairmen and refused to allow any council member to raise questions, challenge the selections or debate the appointments. “When we attempted to raise our concerns, invoke Standing Order 8(3) and open a debate on the legality of the appointments, the mayor refused to allow any discussion at all,” Encinas said. “He simply unilaterally declared the appointments valid, but in our view, none of these committees are legal because the entire foundational meeting that led to them was invalid. The only correct step was to hold a new special statutory meeting to reconsider all committee appointments, including the standing committees.”

Encinas confirmed that when he attempted to formally raise his objection, the mayor ordered him removed from the chamber. “The mayor had police escort me out. I complied peacefully, because I recognize that the mayor holds the procedural authority to maintain order in the chamber, so I followed his direction,” he said. Encinas also categorically rejected Mayrhoo’s claim that the PNM caucus is intentionally avoiding meetings or trying to obstruct the corporation’s work.

In a pointed address to the Senate during debate on the 2026 Public Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen has sounded the alarm on widespread graft among building and public health inspectors, calling on ordinary citizens to bring forward evidence of bribe-taking to law enforcement for investigation.

Ameen opened her remarks by unpacking the systemic roots of the corruption crisis facing the country’s development approval system, noting that long-standing staff shortages, created by the previous administration’s failure to fill vacant inspector positions, have created critical openings for unethical conduct to flourish. In conversations with a former local government minister, Ameen confirmed that understaffing has allowed corrupt actors to exploit gaps in oversight, with bribe-taking becoming so normalized that many developers now build these illicit payments into their project overhead costs as an expected “cost of doing business.”

She emphasized that corruption penetrates every stage of the development approval process, where project sign-off is increasingly granted based on personal connections or illicit payments rather than compliance with building and public health standards. This pattern of graft has severely eroded public trust in the approval framework, she argued, allowing non-compliant projects to move forward while leaving honest developers at a disadvantage. Pointing to visible signs of illicit enrichment, Ameen noted that many corrupt inspectors maintain lavish lifestyles far beyond what their public service salaries can support, including owning multi-million dollar mansions, luxury vehicles, and multiple residential properties across the country. While public conversation about corruption often focuses on elected officials, Ameen stressed that cleaning up the public service requires rooting out bad actors at every level, including front-line inspection roles.

Looking ahead, Ameen issued a clear warning to all new applicants for recently opened inspector positions: corruption will not be tolerated under the current government. The administration is already moving to fill long-vacant inspector and engineering roles to address the staffing shortages that enabled graft, she confirmed. For members of the public who hold information about bribe-taking, Ameen urged immediate reporting to local police, noting that formal processes are already in place to remove proven corrupt officials from their posts.

Beyond addressing corruption, Ameen laid out the core policy goals of the Public Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, which aims to cut through bureaucratic red tape and streamline the country’s construction approval process by removing the County Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) from routine stages of the building permitting workflow. The legislation, which already passed the House of Representatives last Friday, is designed to eliminate redundant approval requirements that have delayed thousands of development projects across the twin-island nation.

Official data presented by Ameen shows that between 2021 and 2026, more than 9,100 development applications were submitted to the CMOH for approval, even though regional municipal corporations already employ public health inspectors authorized to sign off on the same projects. This duplication has created a massive backlog: as of the Senate debate, 790 applications remain pending CMOH review. To address concerns over the fate of these backlogged requests, Ameen confirmed that the Ministry of Health will issue a formal directive transferring all pending applications to the relevant municipal corporations. Applicants will not be required to resubmit documentation or restart their approval process, as both agencies already hold full copies of the submitted materials, and all transitional arrangements will be finalized before the legislation takes effect.

Currently, four municipal corporations – the Port of Spain City Corporation, San Fernando City Corporation, Arima Borough Corporation, and Point Fortin Borough Corporation – already maintain in-house public health inspection teams to conduct project assessments. If passed, the bill will extend this full approval authority to all 14 of Trinidad and Tobago’s municipal corporations, creating a consistent, more efficient approval framework across the country. Coupled with ongoing recruitment of new inspectors and engineers, the legislative change is expected to cut administrative delays, remove overlapping agency requirements, and support faster delivery of new construction and development projects nationwide.

As Trinidad and Tobago advances its ambitious 2026 Migrant Registration Framework (MRF), the country’s government has implemented a rigorous, internationally supported vetting process to screen thousands of undocumented migrants seeking legal status, marking a sharp break from flawed past registration efforts. Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander detailed in an exclusive interview with local outlet the Express on Tuesday that the U.S. Interpol bureau is currently partnering with local authorities to conduct enhanced security screenings for more than 24,000 migrants who have completed the MRF’s in-person registration process. This collaboration comes as the current Kamla Persad-Bissessar administration intensifies background checks ahead of the planned rollout of official migrant registration cards, which Alexander projects will begin as early as next month.

Alexander emphasized that the current vetting protocol is far more exhaustive than the registration exercise carried out by the previous People’s National Movement (PNM) administration, which he criticized for lacking meaningful checks and balances. “Last occasion it was a runaway train, on this occasion, we are making sure to check every detail,” Alexander told the Express. Unlike the incomplete process of the past, the new framework incorporates fingerprint collection by local police service and cross-border background checks facilitated by Interpol, ensuring every applicant is fully vetted before receiving approval to legally reside and work in the twin-island nation. “This process was a tedious one. It was not one that was done with blindfolds on,” he added.

International security partners are contributing far more than just basic record checks: they are assisting local law enforcement in tracing criminal histories across applicants’ countries of origin and any other nations they have previously resided in or visited, with investigations extending beyond past travel to probe any illicit activities applicants may have participated in globally. To date, the enhanced screening has already uncovered multiple cases of applicants submitting false names and other falsified personal information, as well as identifying candidates with active criminal charges or prior conviction records. Alexander confirmed that these individuals will face appropriate administrative or legal action, stressing that the government will no longer admit migrants who would exacerbate existing public safety challenges. “We are not prepared to accommodate persons in this country any more who intend to be part of the problem that we are already in,” he said.

Beyond migrant vetting, Alexander noted that international partners have been critical to Trinidad and Tobago’s broader law enforcement efforts, providing critical intelligence, surveillance capabilities, technical training, and on-the-ground support to counter the illicit flows of drugs, unregistered firearms, and human trafficking across the country’s borders. He blamed the previous PNM administration for failing to secure national borders, invest in border security personnel, or build critical international security partnerships, leaving the country vulnerable to a large influx of unauthorized migration. Since taking office, the current administration has made cracking down on illegal migration a top policy priority, and has seen growing cooperation from global security partners as a result. “Our international partners have been very co-operative with us. And they are teaching us a lot of things that we did not have the technology to detect before. We continue to build that partnership and we can only see it getting better in the future,” Alexander said.

The 2026 MRF represents a major expansion of Trinidad and Tobago’s approach to undocumented migration. Unlike the 2019 registration exercise, which limited eligibility to Venezuelan migrants, the new framework opens registration to qualified undocumented migrants of all nationalities. The first phase of the 2026 process, which ran from January 26 to February 25, consisted of online application submission, preliminary reviews, and in-person appointment scheduling. By the close of the first phase, the Ministry of Homeland Security had received 29,276 applications from migrants representing more than 60 different countries of origin.

The second, mandatory phase of the process requires all applicants to complete in-person verification and processing at one of five designated regional stadium centers: Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, Larry Gomes Stadium in Arima, Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, and Dwight Yorke Stadium in Tobago. In-person interviews launched on March 2, and as part of the processing workflow, all applicants undergo fingerprint collection and initial security checks through the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, while adult applicants are required to pay a TT$700 registration fee. Public health officials have also participated in the process to conduct required health screenings for all applicants.

The update comes amid criticism from some Venezuelan migrant communities and local migrant advocacy groups, which told the Express they have waited more than six months for an official status update on the MRF process from Alexander’s ministry, with no new information released to date.