HUNDREDS of thousands of Venezuelans who are being deported from the United States could end up in Trinidad and Tobago.
They include hardened criminals who are members of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang.
The hardline Donald Trump administration in the US is revoking immigration protection of some 350,000 Venezuelans and sending them back to their homeland.
Trump is scrapping the temporary protection status granted by previous President Joe Biden that allowed the Venezuelans to work in the US.
The impending deportation has created panic among those affected, many of whom are scared to return to repression and hardship under tyrant Nicholas Maduro’s rule.
International media reports say there is anguish among the soon-to-be-deported migrants, who are currently being fired from their US jobs.
Some have been arrested by officers of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Trump said Maduro agreed to accept the deported undocumented migrants, even sending air transportation for them.
The concentrated American drive against illegal migration could also see a fresh flood of Venezuelans in T&T.
Tens of thousands of Venezuelans are in T&T, facilitated by the wide-open borders, especially in south-west Trinidad.
Refugees escaping adversity in their homeland arrive every week at landing sites at Erin, Icacos, Cedros, Los Iros, Quinam, and other unmanned entry points.
Nearby residents report witnessing boatloads of migrants and a lively contraband trade on an ongoing basis.
The refugees easily assimilate into local society, gaining jobs in the informal sector and accessing health care and social welfare assistance.
Some plead for alms in public places.
The Trump administration is also kicking out some 200 Venezuelan-born gangsters, who have been held during crackdowns by ICE and other agencies of the Department of Homeland Security.
Tren de Aragua’s leader Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco was recently arrested during a major law enforcement raid in The Bronx, New York.
Other gang members were rounded up at Aurora, Colorado, where the criminals have committed various serious crimes and placed communities under siege.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “President Trump told the American people he’d arrest and deport members of the brutal Tren de Aragua gang, and he is doing just that.”
The vicious gang carried out crimes in T&T for years and has been ignored by the political and law enforcement authorities.
Research by a Caricom-commissioned expert uncovered that the gangsters enter T&T in the company of other refugees, and link with local hardened criminal associates.
The Tren de Aragua thugs have reportedly committed heinous Latin American-style crimes and escaped arrest.
In some cases, they flee the country on pirogues after performing the crimes, according to intelligence reports.
They are also said to be involved in gun and drug running and human trafficking.
The T&T Government has not introduced any measures to safeguard the country from an influx of migrants, including criminals.
Even amid the current State of Emergency, there have been no moves to seal the porous borders and to arrest illegal migrants.
