{"id":263841,"date":"2026-01-11T11:15:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T15:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=263841"},"modified":"2026-01-11T11:25:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T15:25:43","slug":"antigua-will-not-accept-criminal-deportees-pm-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/antigua-will-not-accept-criminal-deportees-pm-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Antigua Will Not Accept Criminal Deportees, PM Says"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Antigua Will Not Accept Criminal Deportees, PM Says<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Prime Minister Gaston Browne<\/strong> said Saturday that Antigua and Barbuda has drawn firm limits in its dealings with the United States, rejecting claims by political opponents that the government agreed to accept criminal deportees.<\/p>

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Speaking on his Browne and Browne radio programme, Browne said opposition figures were spreading false information about a memorandum of understanding with the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI find that our political opponents, you know, they\u2019re trying to suggest that we have agreed to take criminal deportees. There\u2019s no such thing,\u201d Browne said .<\/p>

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Browne said the government instructed Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s ambassador to the United States to make the country\u2019s position clear after concerns arose that deportees could include criminals.<\/p>

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\u201cI then instructed Sir Ron to write to the State Department to indicate that we will cooperate. However, Antigua and Barbuda cannot accommodate criminal refugees,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the United States can\u2019t handle them, how are we going to handle them? They will destabilize our country,\u201d Browne added .<\/p>

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The prime minister said the government entered into a memorandum of understanding that limits what Antigua and Barbuda would be expected to do, while also restricting public disclosure of the document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have an MOU with the U.S. and we understand that, look, when it comes to refugees,\u201d Browne said, adding that the agreement itself cannot be published.<\/p>

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\u201cThe agreement that we have with the United States is that we ought not to publish the agreement, so we will certainly keep to that commitment,\u201d he said.<\/p>

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Browne said he nonetheless felt obligated to explain the government\u2019s position to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am duty bound to at least tell our people what is in that agreement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said a letter sent to U.S. officials in August 2025 also raised broader regional concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA wider plea for the Caribbean, indicating to them that already many Caribbean countries are struggling with crime and violence,\u201d Browne said, warning that accepting criminal deportees would \u201cclearly\u2026 destabilize our countries\u201d .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Browne said the government would continue diplomatic engagement but rejected what he described as attempts to mislead the public about the country\u2019s commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Antigua Will Not Accept Criminal Deportees, PM Says Prime Minister Gaston Browne said Saturday that Antigua and Barbuda has drawn firm limits in its dealings with the United States, rejecting claims by political opponents that the government agreed to accept criminal deportees. Speaking on his Browne and Browne radio programme, Browne said opposition figures were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":262887,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-263841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nAntigua Will Not Accept Criminal Deportees, PM Says - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/antigua-will-not-accept-criminal-deportees-pm-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Antigua Will Not Accept Criminal Deportees, PM Says\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Antigua Will Not Accept Criminal Deportees, PM Says Prime Minister Gaston Browne said Saturday that Antigua and Barbuda has drawn firm limits in its dealings with the United States, rejecting claims by political opponents that the government agreed to accept criminal deportees. 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