00:00Bonas Village, Cedrus, is one of a few fishing villages in Trinidad's southwestern peninsula.
00:11It's home to the Cedrus Coast Guard facility, a legal port of entry for Venezuelans fortnightly.
00:18But it's an area more frequently associated as a point of illegal entry for far too many
00:24Venezuelan migrants than anyone here would dare to admit.
00:28On Tuesday, Prime Minister Kamla Passan-Bissessa announced that over 200 Venezuelans currently
00:35detained in Trinidad for illegal entry or other crimes will be deported, a move supported
00:42by those we spoke with on Wednesday.
00:45I feel good about it because some of them Venezuelans are causing more crime in this country.
00:54And just like you and I go to America, and if we commit a crime, we could live there for
01:0020 years.
01:01We could have more green care, more papers, and we commit a crime after we serve our time,
01:06they deport us.
01:07Residents say this problem has been happening for some time.
01:10But it was the PNM's migrant registration amnesty in 2019 that triggered a mass influx, causing
01:18the problems we see today.
01:20So when you open up your door now and you say, well, again, granting this contract, something
01:24people think, obviously phone calls are going to make and people are going to start a flood
01:28the country.
01:29That is what they did, right?
01:32And people just quickly forget.
01:34Most believe one vessel won't be enough to stop illegal migration, especially with a potential
01:41war brewing between Venezuela and the United States.
01:45They're supposed to have more than one.
01:49Because to control some sea dress, going right back to the ring.
01:54One area, you know.
01:57You know, that one blocking only here.
02:01But the balance is going so.
02:02So one area, you know, they should bring almost about three of them.
02:08We kept one boat.
02:09Because remember, you're not surrounded with water.
02:13And then everything will be all right.
02:16We shouldn't really get involved in that.
02:18Because we're a small, tiny country.
02:20Look at the way we are.
02:21When the Americans turn their back and go on back.
02:23And then we have to go through the thing here.
02:26You have to be worried because you don't know what really can play.
02:29Despite all that's happening, we saw Venezuelan migrants both leaving and entering this country
02:37through this legal port in Cedras.
02:39On Wednesday, more Venezuelans left on the legal ferry than the number of those that came in.
02:46At the site, we spoke with Deputy Mayor of the Separia Borough Corporation,
02:51who refuted claims that only a Coast Guard Pirog was deployed here.
02:56The return of one of the larger Coast Guard vessels, together with an interceptor, on the border,
03:02that is presently there on the arena to the southwestern end,
03:06protecting the border against what was happening over the couple of months
03:11in terms of the influx of migrants.
03:13He says the fishermen and the community by extension feel safer
03:17due to the presence of the recently deployed Coast Guard vessel.
03:22It reminds two vessels, a large one and a small one.
03:24The large one is more or less to back up the interceptor.
03:27So, at this point in time, we have that.
03:30If there's need, based on the Coast Guard requirement,
03:34for additional patrol or additional vessels or additional equipment,
03:37that will be assessed and be deployed.
03:39Cindy Raguba, Tika Singh, TV6 News.
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