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  • 2 months ago
Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar on Tuesday said a Coast Guard Vessel has been dispatched off Cedros, in the government's bid to tackle illegal immigration and says over 200 detained migrants are set to be deported.

She also promises to upgrade the Cedros Coast Guard Facility and port of entry.

But how exactly are people of the southwestern fishing village feeling about the announcements?

Our reporter Cindy Raghubar-Teekersingh was in Cedros today and spoke with residents who say more vessels are needed to truly secure the borders, but they were happy with the deportation move.
Transcript
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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