The Grenada government on Monday said that it would deport 15 Haitian nationals, who entered the island as a tourist group on Sunday because immigration has determined that they would be a burden to the public purse.
Prime Minister of Grenada Dickon Mitchell, who is also the Minister for National Security and Immigration, told a news conference that the French-speaking nationals had arrived in Grenada on a flight from neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago.
“So, the Immigration officers in their normal routine checks were able to ascertain to make the determination that in fact, they will be a charge on the public purse if they were in fact permitted to enter the state,” said Prime Minister Mitchell, noting that the decision was based on the amount of cash in the possession of the Haitians when they arrived here.
He said that because Haiti is a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping, there are very specific and limited grounds that can be used to prevent a CARICOM national from entering a member state.
