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Venezuelan migrants in this country are fearful of being deported in light of the tensions that have been escalating between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. They said they have been able to work in this country and provide for their families both here and in their motherland, and they see no future in returning to Venezuela with Pre-sident Nicolas Maduro at the helm. Several concerned Venezuelan migrants have contacted Angie Ramnarine, head of the La Romaine Migrants Support (LARMS) group, following escalations and also following a memo that was issued on Monday from Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander. Ramnarine translated as three women—30 and 36-year-old mothers and a 42-year-old grandmother—who have been living illegally in this country for between four to six years and also working in the San Fernando area spoke with the Express yesterday. The 36-year-old said: “There’s a high degree of uncertainty; we feel really helpless and we can’t do anything. We don’t know what to do. We fear being deported at any minute...I feel very frightened, especially to walk the street. It is a frightening thing for me because I feel that the authorities could pick me up at any time and just deport me like that,” she said. She added that in Trinidad, there is the possibility to earn through work, and she has the opportunity to help the generations after her. The 30-year-old mother of three said she and her husband have been working with the goal of affording a house, while the grandmother said she has her family to consider. Caught in the middle Ramnarine said they feel persecuted “in the sense that there is the threat of deportation. They wouldn’t like that.... They feel like they’re caught in the middle of what’s happening between Venezuela and Trinidad and they feel very afraid and they feel very vulnerable”. They all said they would not want to return home until Maduro is removed as there is no freedom of expression, their education and health institutions have degenera-ted, and there is hyperinflation. “They want to go back to a Venezuela of more than 20 years ago that will be pre-Chavez, pre-Madu-ro where they have freedom of expression again, where their salary could afford a decent standard of living, where there is no fear of persecution because they don’t support the government, because to be in opposition to the Maduro government, you run the risk of persecution,” Ramnarine translated. The women were not against the United States taking military action against Venezuela. “Yes, they want the US to be able to take Maduro out because they have seen other countries where they have replaced regimes and the countries got better. Basically, what they’re inferring is that the US has a precedence of doing this to make a country free again. If this is the way to do it, they are in full support,” Ramnarine told the Express as they spoke. They are also in support of T&T PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar. “(We) are very grateful for this country. This is the country that’s feeding us, we must support it.” They said they would not want to imagine what would occur should the Venezuelan government make good on their threats to cut the Dra-gon gas deal with this country “which could have severe implications”. The women’s feelings came following a memorandum on Monday by the Homeland Security Minister. The correspondence stated that consideration was being given to the implementation of a mass deportation exercise for illegal immigrants. On Monday, the memo from the Ministry of Homeland Security and it’s permanent secretary to the Chief Immigration Officer stated that Alexander had instructed that all illegal immigrants detained are to be held at the Immigration Detention Centre until repatriation. It further stated that illegal immigrants are not to be placed on orders of supervision, as consideration is currently being given to the implementation of a mass deportation exercise for illegal immigrants. It said the policy will take immediate effect and remain in force until further instructions are issued by the minister. Ramnarine said she had since consulted with attorneys on the issue.
