GRENADA–Foreign Affairs Minister confirms request from US to deport non-Grenadians to the island

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC—Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Andall has confirmed that the Trump Administration officially requested the Government to accept immigrants who are not Grenadians for deportation to the country, but the Government has refused the offer.

Who was a guest on a weekly radio program, also confirmed that Grenada, in late January, received notification from the US Administration about the deportation of Grenadians.

“There was also a request for us to host nationals of third countries who may be deported, and unfortunately, we are not in a position to do that, and we have communicated that to the US authorities.”

The confirmation of the request came approximately weeks after a mainstream cable network in the United States said Grenada was one of the countries in the Caribbean that the Trump Administration would be seeking to deport immigrants who are not nationals of the country.

On December 6, 2024, the Government of Grenada denied the claim.

A news release from the Office of the Press Secretary said, “The Office of the Prime Minister advises that the Government of Grenada has not engaged in any discussion regarding the deportation of migrants to Grenada. Furthermore, no proposal has been presented regarding this matter.”

All said that the Government received official notification in late January 2025, but it did not provide the number of people who would be deported to the island.

We did get communication from them towards the end of January that they will probably be repatriating or deporting Grenadian citizens. They also spoke about the consequences of countries not wanting to receive their nationals,” he said on the program, which is also aired via social media platforms.

“Grenada is home to all Grenadians, and we are prepared and ready to welcome back any repatriated Grenadians regardless of their circumstances. Of course, there may be some with particular backgrounds that you may have to pay particular attention to. Still, we intend to accept bonafide Grenadians who are repatriated from whatever country,” he added.

Confirming that it’s not unusual for Grenada to receive deportees from the diaspora, Andall said, “Deportation and repatriation are nothing new—if you look at the records, you will see a couple of hundreds of people have been repatriated from the US, Canada, and the UK without any fanfare.”