Saint Lucia is one of 43 countries under consideration for new travel restrictions by the Trump administration, according to a New York Times report.
A draft list developed by diplomatic and security officials categorises countries into three groups: a “red” list of 11 nations facing a complete travel ban, an “orange” list of 10 countries with restricted travel, and a “yellow” list of 22 nations that would be given 60 days to clear up perceived deficiencies, with the threat of being moved onto one of the other lists if they did not comply.
Saint Lucia is on the yellow list. No specific reason was given for its placement in that category.
However, according to The New York Times, countries may be categorised in that way for failing to share traveller information with US authorities, having inadequate security protocols for issuing passports, or selling citizenship to individuals from banned nations—potentially allowing them to bypass restrictions.
Saint Lucia operates a Citizenship by Investment Programme, which may have factored into its placement on the yellow list.
Other Caribbean nations on that list are Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, and St Kitts and Nevis. Cuba and Venezuela are on the proposed red list, facing outright travel bans.
When he took office on January 20, President Donald Trump issued an executive order requiring the State Department to identify countries “for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.”
He gave the department 60 days to finish a report for the White House with that list, which means it is due next week, The New York Times pointed out.
During Trump’s first term, courts blocked the government from enforcing the first two versions of his travel ban, but the Supreme Court eventually permitted a rewritten ban — one that banned citizens from eight nations, six of them predominantly Muslim — to take effect. The list later evolved.
Soon after he became president in January 2021, Joe Biden issued a proclamation revoking Trump’s travel bans, calling them “a stain on our national conscience” and “inconsistent with our long history of welcoming people of all faiths and no faith at all”.
Trump’s executive order in January said he would revive the bans in order to protect American citizens “from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes.”
Look it! Were’nt we warned about CIP.It was only a matter of time.Zout Kai Appound
St. Lucia doesn’t have oil that’s why. It’s high time that we tell the United Snakes to shove it … way way up.
For UWPs who would use this and shout “you see CIP”, what would y’all say about the USA wanting to revoke the visas of persons in countries hosting Cuban nurses and doctors?
bro a lunatic in office give him space just now he will ancient history
We just have to humble to the United States as a small nation or else we will lose the tourist market…. just give America what ever that she wants or else our economy will decline….
Actions, meet consequences. Welcome this for all of the supports of trump and pjp and others. Let’s go Donald, let’s go pjp and cohorts
I hear people talking about whole set of nonsense regarding CIP not being responsible for this situation. The US is aware of everything. They can see if there is corruption in certain processes. They know that drug and money laundering money is entering into political campaigns and enticing and influencing politicians. Foreigners buying CIP passports are generally not doing it because they love St. Lucia. They are doing it to enter the EU or UK visa free, sometimes for nefarious reasons that affect the US too. Some of them get CIP passports so that they can operate in the shadows away from US scrutiny of their original passports. Our reluctance to be transparent is very worrying and it is similarly worrying when political operatives attack those that are asking the right questions and holding the processes to account. I think it is necessary to remind the operatives that perhaps the lack of transparency and the granting of diplomatic passports might of led Dominica to lose visa free access to the UK and also end up on the US list. Loyalty to your party should not surpass your rights to personal freedoms.
Hahahhha….. … political milage ….
Well St Lucian’s for Trump who were pumping your fist when he won how do you love him now ??? I wonder what our own Tropical Trumpet have to say ?? The usual bellows it’s Pierre’s fault…….a least we are on the yellow list we have no choice butt to bend over to them
What a freak out ting jamaica wasn’t label but st lucia was…..
Quick question…..under which gov’t was CIP implemented?
If this passes, St Lucia is in trouble. How can the St Lucian government make this right ASAP?
Thanks to UWP who brought in the CIP and SLP who kept this going..Ralph Gonzales warned about selling the country to foreigners .. now all st.lucians paying for political stupidity…
I am still trying to understand how Pierre thinks. Unless he is playing stupid to buy himself some time to understand the international world.
We are all aware Trump and his administration have no diplomatic approach. They have been known to move the goal post to suit their agenda. They have been caught on many occasions to twist the truth whenever it is necessary. There is no constant when dealing with Trump. Instead you are only given variables.
The Canadian leaders can relate too well to such behaviours when it comes to Trump. There was no formal communication from the US diplomats regarding the trade war with Canada. Trump and his team kept on changing the objectives as the deadlines aporoach and on many occasions they were caught tweaking the truth to be compatible with their agenda.
The Canadian leaders did not wait for any diplomatic approach from Trump as they knew too well that time and day would never come. They used what ever info available on social media. They knew they were up against a monster and there was no previous template which could have been used to resolve the issue. There are no words or phrases such as ally, friend, trading partner, neighbour in Trump’s vocabulary. His agenda is based on disruption and revenge. Canadians learnt this guy has no limit. They have a good idea who is the enemy in this trade war. They have adjust themselves for it. While Trump may have done some damage, he had also done Canadians well. He has unified them. The leaders may be divided locally but on the Regional and International stage, they speak with one voice – Bring it on Trump !! We are ready. They are fighting this war with an eye for an eye approach. They only approach Trump understands.
While Pierre might not have what it takes to stand up to the lunatic. My advice to him is to copy some of the strategies from the Canadians. There is never smoke without fire. Trump might have found something in SLU. With the CIP allegations, This might be his Guinea pig at this point. With Trump, it is not innocent until proven guilty. It is the opposite. You are guilty until proven innocent. Mr.Pierre, do not wait for any official communication. Reach out to the DOJ and find out for yourself. There is no reason to play politics at this point. The damage is done. Bring the country together and strategize your approach to deal with this enemy. We survived COVID. We should have it in us to survive TRUMP.
Two diplomats from the US who I am friends with sent me this link along with a local article from the U.S. I say that to say that the Americans read our news as well, so stop saying nonsense here with no basis of facts or evidence. What I can say is there are countries who are not on the list who practice similar. Read between the lines and take off the political cap.
Finally a voice of reason La pelle. You are correct in all you are saying, and if Lucia was smart, we would open our eyes and take warning and make changes. The CIP program is full of corruption and people using Lucia as a way to enter the EU and US under shade. As long as we continue to allow this, we will be banned, and our small country will suffer the loss of tourism.
I repeat, CIP shall be our irreversible downfall especially for the lower economic class. This was bad judgement getting into this program. When it is all said and done, a few will have pocketed millions, the majority losing opportunities for land ownership and traveling. In the long term, there will be culture and demographics.
St Lucia has a drug and crime problem! Rising gang violence and murder are the reason for the US to take note.
When tourists are attacked and gang shootings happen in broad daylight people notice.
Don’t blame the US for a homegrown crime scene. Look into the mirror St Lucia, your showing some signs of rapid decline.
@la pelle ..very well said.✅
The leader of the opposition has been asking questions and asking for transparency for months. Unfortunately he has been attacked by biased journalists, political operatives and social media influencers including those purporting to lead charitable and social assistance associations. He has been ridiculed and prevented from speaking in parliament. He finally filed a lawsuit with his own money to get answers on CIP. We the taxpayers will be funding the government’s side in this lawsuit that the leader of the opposition is fighting on our behalf. It is really time for St. Lucians to wake up, put obsessive party loyalty aside and ask the hard questions.
@The Crow wake up and smell the coffee.This one is all about CIP.Whether we want to denyor not its all in our faces.
Jnbaptiste, I concur. The time has come to stop all that political gimmick and put country first. Moreover, whatever we witness out there among the politicians, when they’re at social gatherings it’s the complete opposite. Rescue us Lord!
How many times have we heard from the prime minister that St.Lucias high crime rate would affect tourism. Well it has finally done so.
When tourists are no longer safe from thieves in Rodney Bay, then you need to actually do something. The internet reports all crimes and travellers have thousnads of places they can vacation that are safer.
Deal with crime now before the economy is further affected.
@ Jnbaptiste….,Where have you seen any written statements out of Washington or any other stating the reasons for St Lucia being placed on the list was due to our CIP ? Every one scrambling like mongrels with their tails between their legs as if St Lucia is governed by Washington. We have the right to our CIP…..they were already giving little or nothing to St Lucia in terms of funding, I expect that to be cut to minus zero under the Trump Regime, so how do they expect us to survive, if we cozy up to China they start foaming at the mouth, what do they expect us to be a nation of forever borrowers , we have to do what it takes to sustain ourselves. We are a nation with zero resources only sand and sea with two big rocks sticking out of the ocean with our only leverage a seat at the United Nations that’s it. We are not State Sponsors of Terrorism neither are we on any Human Rights Commission watch list so at the end of the day if your Dear Allen wants to spend his own money to investigate irregularities of our CIP which has been proven To be NONE EXISTENT ALREADY that’s his prerogative he will be laughed at again. Trump announced he wants to start his own CIP, yes for five million USD you will be given a gold card with all the perks and benefits of an average US citizen who has dare to question it ??? But St Lucia been on a list is the end for us ?? I understand the David Goliath syndrome, but collectively as a group of nations we must stand together to defend our national sovereignty, integrity, and interest ; we must stand up for something or fall for everything our survival is at stake.
Is this really a surprise? Wow, some of you in SLU are really deluded. This country has one of the highest murder rates per capita in the world. In addition, gun toting criminals are given a slap on the wrist, they come up with their bail money from God knows where and before you long they are back on the streets again committing the same crimes. CIP issues or not, I wouldn’t let my citizens travel to St. Lucia in its current state. Btw, Non partisan here.
No oil but we have a volcano so they eyeballing geo thermal energy sources as we have recently read about down south!!! Thus creating irreversible damages even so they claim differently they take off an move on immediately after they close their studies an on too their next stint andnever look back kinda like Cabot,leaving neighborhoods in disarray and damaged! There are so many Syrians in St Lucia with Venezuela travel links all the way to Morocco and more enemies of the USA so just now lots of Brooklynites gonna be pushed back to Island! Smmph
CIP should be abolished, only politicians’ friends, family and foreigners benefit from it.
Thank Hilarious for this. Welcome.
They need to address the nation asap to let citizens know what are they doing to fix the potential ban from the USA.
Hey all those talking gun this gun that,don’t forget 95%of those guns and ammunition are built and made in this same America….this world is just damn Evil and just imagine which country actually represents the head of the evil babylonian beast…..they will make us turn against our black brothers and still issue us guns to shoot each other down.
So John Public just because someone puts a knife in your hand, you will use it to kill your brother? Keep blaming whites for the sick mindset of most black people. And what about the magistrates? Should they just let the shooters off on bail too because America sends the guns? Use your brains man.
Garfield you cannot see the wider sphere…who said anything about white,… I said “America”….so to your analogy America is white just like what some evil forefathers wants to proclaim.
I was simply saying because some foolish folks keep talking about crime and guns….we are not getting heavy shipments or frequent smuggle of guns from Europe because their borders are highly monitored and secure and mind you,Europe is predominantly white.
Now lemmie infiltrate some sense into your bird brain🧠 ..if Donald Trump insist on crime and guns as some fools quote is why st.lucia is being flagged,why don’t he start by securing he’s borders so all those heavy artilleries can’t leave their shores into another country…..they definitely secure their borders from stuff entering through their ports but not too much of a rat’s ssa on what’s leaving….
After all this long bagga talk my intelligence thought is telling me crime and guns is not the reason st.lucia is being flagged.
John Public, your comment puts on glaring display the major issues that we have in this country. Strife, hostility, a narrow view of things that cannot consider other perspectives respectfully. So now I have a bird brain. Wow. If your child or relative is shot and the criminal gets bail I know you will be singing another song. Some of you can cannot move past putting party before country. Yes, there might be other reasons for the looming travel ban, but anyone with half a brain will admit to the problems of escalating crime in this country. Even relatives who come from the US tell me they do not feel safe when they visit SLU. Yes, crimes happen everywhere, but like they say the number per capita is very high down here and the police largely depend on the public for information. Very little skills in forensics and of course the public hardly talks because they do not trust them. I personally do not see the US as the golden land of opportunities and will shed tears if I cannot go there, but again we need to look at the bigger picture. America with all its faults provide most of our revemnue in terms of the tourist dollar. Therefore we need to fix our problems for the sake of our survival. As a small island nation, we do not stand a chance against them.
However we flip the coin politicians here never see’s danger they only speak of it but never take proactive approach we are more a re-active one .. we often speak of double sword language that only seems to take its benefits where it lies.