Venezuelans fleeing the crisis in their homeland will be given an amnesty to register legally and possibly work for one year in T&T without any involvement from the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).
So said National Security Minister Stuart Young as he dismissed concerns of vote-rigging raised by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday.
Speaking at a press conference at the Moruga Police Station, Young said the registration process will begin soon to document and register all Venezuelan nationals here, once it receives clearance from Cabinet.
“This registration process is simply to get the correct data of the number of Venezuelans who were staying legally and illegally in T&T. Right now you are hearing all sorts of irresponsible figures being bandied about, so for the first time we will get the real figures,” Young said.
He chastised Persad-Bissessar for her claims, saying, “The EBC is not going to be playing any part of the exercise. It will be completely driven by the Ministry of National Security. We will be designing ID cards, not the EBC ID cards, so any attempt to try to confuse the two is very irresponsible. I call it dog whistling.”
Asked to explain further, Young said, “We will look at utilising something like your drivers’ permit and working along with maybe the Ministry of Works to see how they do the registration process. We will be giving all Venezuelans a period of time to come to certain offices, places, all the various options. We want you to come and register and walk with your own ID, passports and we will register everyone.”
He urged all Venezuelans here to take advantage of the opportunity to register during this process.
“I want to say that all Venezuelans who are here legally or illegally, we are giving you a time to register and thereafter the law will apply, “ Young said.
Asked whether the illegal Venezuelans will be persecuted if they came forward, Young said no.
“This is amnesty. I want to know who is here and the only way to do that is to literally grant an amnesty, which the Ministry of National Security can do because immigration decisions are taken by the ministry within the confines of the law.
“So yes, I am asking them to come and register. It is not come and register and I will hold you and take you to the detention centre. No, come and register and this provides a clean slate for everyone who comes and register. Thereafter we will apply the law.”
Young could not say whether registration will give access to health and educational opportunities for Venezuelans who are fleeing their homeland in droves because of the socio-economic crisis.
“All of those things are to be decided by Cabinet, especially the education aspect,” Young said.
For those Venezuelans who fail to come forward, Young said they will feel the full brunt of the law.
“If you can’t produce a registration card then it means you are illegal and you can be sent to the detention centre and be deported. This is an opportunity for you to get into the system and utilise the system of registering, knowing that you are not going to be prosecuted,” he said.
He also said a collaborative crime initiative was in place to pull back on illegal entry by immigrants. This includes more coastal patrols and land surveillance, Young said.