GUYANA-US silent on the seizure of the Permanent Secretary’s mobile phone by immigration officials.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Immigration officials in the United States have refused to explain a mobile phone belonging to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mae Toussaint Jr.- Thomas, who was traveling through the United States en route to China.

In the aftermath of the incident, the Permanent Secretary in Guyana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Elisabeth Harper, sought an explanation but was told that nothing could be provided.

“We do not have any specific information to share,” US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Adrienne Galanek told Ms. Harper on Friday in response to an inquiry hours after an inquiry appeared in the Stabroek News.

However, the American Embassy’s correspondence merely reproduced standard CBP reasons for conducting secondary checks on all incoming foreigners and American citizens.

“If CBP officers at a port of entry need more information to determine your admissibility into the US, you may be directed to an interview area known as secondary inspection,” the document said.

The American Embassy advised the Guyana government that CBP agents could ask for detailed information about the purpose of visiting the US and their travel history. They and their belongings could be scoured.

“Such inspections may include searching for all electronic information stored on your laptop, cell phone, and other electronic device.”

Meanwhile, in an interview with Demerara Waves Online News, a senior Guyana government official said the United States is not obligated to explain the seizure of the phone.

“If they wish to, they don’t share. It is not something that they are legally or statutorily required to do. It is a courtesy,” the official said.

The official told the online news outlet that the Guyana government was not formally notified of the incident so that the government would await the return of the Permanent Secretary.

According to Demerara Waves Online News, the Permanent Secretary’s mobile phone could potentially contain sensitive national security information as well as communication with top government and ruling People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) officials, as she is the most senior civil servant responsible for police, immigration, prisons, the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit and the Registry of Births and Deaths.