AKASH SAMAROO
Lead Editor – Politics
Former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley is calling on Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to reveal how many citizens her Government has reported to United States authorities with recommendations that their US visas be revoked.
In a Facebook post, Rowley also challenged Persad-Bissessar to explain the grounds on which she and others had previously called for the US visas of himself and former prime minister Stuart Young to be cancelled.
Rowley’s comments come amid renewed public discussion over US visa revocations and warnings about the circumstances that could result in people losing their ability to travel to the United States.
He accused the United National Congress (UNC) leadership and people close to the party of using the issue of US visas to intimidate citizens.
“In recent times, the UNC leadership and others close to them have been warning and threatening the citizens about losing their US visas,” Rowley said.
He pointed to an August 10 statement from the US Department of State which, according to him, outlined several reasons for visa revocations, including violating the terms of a US visa, committing crimes, calling for violence against US citizens, defrauding Americans, abusing the immigration system and endangering national security.
Rowley said the clarification from US authorities was welcomed.
“I want to thank the US authorities for going public to tell the traumatized citizenry in this country the conditions under which visas are revoked,” he said.
Against that backdrop, Rowley questioned the basis for previous calls for action against him and Young.
“Today I want to ask Mrs. Kamla Persad-Bissessar and all the others who made this call and even wrote the US Government calling for the visas of both Stuart Young and Rowley to be cancelled: which of these offences were they guilty of?” he asked.
Rowley also turned his attention to what he described as a close friend and “messenger” of the Prime Minister, claiming that the individual’s US visa had been cancelled before Persad-Bissessar returned to office.
He challenged the Prime Minister to disclose which of the circumstances outlined by US authorities had resulted in that person losing their visa.
Rowley then pressed Persad-Bissessar for wider disclosure about whether other citizens had been reported to US authorities.
“Also, is the Prime Minister prepared to tell the country, besides Rowley and Young, how many other citizens she and her Government have reported to the US Government with a recommendation to have their visas cancelled?” he asked.
