Kamla: US deportees linked to T&T crime surge

(Trinidad Express) Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar pointed to the relationship between criminal deportees and increased crime and violence in Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the Caribbean in yesterday’s discussions with United States Vice-President Joe Biden.
The Prime Minister noted that one of the major problems being experienced was that many of the criminal deportees would have left the region prior to adulthood and do not have ties to the countries to which they have been deported.
In this context, Persad-Bissessar suggested to the US vice-president that increased focus should be placed on improved information and intelligence-sharing with respect to criminal deportees, in particular, access to complete dossiers on medical and criminal history, as well as consideration of financial and technical assistance to establish reintegration programmes within CARICOM member states.