How does deportation work in Trinidad and Tobago?

Who can be deported

• Citizens cannot be deported. A citizen has the right to be admitted to Trinidad and Tobago under the Immigration Act (Chapter 18:01) (s 4(1)), and a Special Inquiry Officer who finds that a person has that right must let them in or allow them to remain (s 25(2)).
• Residents (permanent residents) have the same right for as long as they remain residents (s 4(2)). Resident status can be lost, for example by voluntarily living abroad for a continuous year without a certificate of exemption (s 7(1)(a)). Where the Minister has reasonable grounds for suspecting that a resident gave false or misleading information in the residence application, or falls within certain prohibited classes, he may declare in writing that the status is lost and make a deportation order (s 7(4)). A person who claims to be a resident may appeal against the declaration and the order to a judge of the High Court, and then to the Court of Appeal (s 31(1)), except in the cases listed in section 31(2).
• Permitted entrants (such as visitors, students and workers) can be deported once the Minister declares that they have ceased to be permitted entrants. The grounds include staying after their certificate expires, breaking its conditions, using false documents or information, and being sentenced to imprisonment for 1 year or more (s 9(4)). The Minister may then make a deportation order himself, and the person “shall have no right of appeal” (s 9(5)). Alternatively, the person may be reported to the Chief Immigration Officer and dealt with at a special inquiry (s 22(1)(f)). The Privy Council has held that the declaration must actually be made first; without it, the deportation order is not properly made (Naidike v Attorney General).
• People who entered unlawfully may be ordered deported by the Minister, and they then have “no right of appeal” (s 11). A person who came in other than at a port of entry, or who avoided examination, may instead be reported for a special inquiry (s 22(1)(i)).
• Holders of a Minister’s permit may be ordered deported by the Minister when the permit is cancelled or expires, with no right of appeal (s 10(6)); see migrants and work.

Which route is used matters. An order the Minister makes himself under section 9(5), 10(6) or 11 is made without an inquiry and cannot be appealed to the Minister. An order made after an inquiry usually can (s 27(2)).

Does having a child or spouse here make a difference?

The Immigration Act contains no rule that having a spouse or child here prevents deportation. The Privy Council has said, without deciding the point, that there will be cases in which careful regard will need to be had to the interests of family members, “not least those of a child who is a national of the host country”, before a family is separated by a deportation order (Naidike v Attorney General). The spouse of a citizen or resident may apply to the Minister for permission to become a resident, but the Minister must be satisfied, among other things, that the applicant entered the country legally (s 6(1)(c), (2)(a)). Where an appeal lies and the Minister dismisses it, he may still stay or quash the order on compassionate or humanitarian grounds (reg 28). Where the Minister made the order himself and no appeal lies, that power is not available, but the Minister may cancel any deportation order (s 27(6)). The position of children is explained on the page on migrant children.

The special inquiry

The Act does not require an inquiry before the Minister makes an order himself under section 9(5), 10(6) or 11. Where the Chief Immigration Officer receives a written report under section 22 (for example, about a person who entered other than at a port of entry, or a permitted entrant whom the Minister has declared to have lost that status) and considers an inquiry warranted, he must, subject to any direction by the Minister, have one held by a Special Inquiry Officer (ss 22, 23(2)). At the inquiry:

• the hearing is in private unless the person asks for a public hearing (s 24(1));
• the person may be represented by an attorney-at-law, or with the officer’s leave helped by someone else (s 24(2));
• a person who is not represented must be told at the start that they may be represented by an attorney-at-law, a relative or a friend, at no cost to the Government, and the inquiry must be adjourned on request to allow this (reg 25(2));
• where the person does not understand the language of the hearing, the officer may adjourn and wherever possible obtain an interpreter, who is provided free of charge (reg 25(3)–(4));
• a person who admits the allegations and is willing to leave at no cost to the Government may apply for voluntary departure instead of a deportation order (s 24(5)).

The decision must be in writing (s 25(1)). An adverse decision leads to a deportation order (s 25(4)), and the person must be told which provision it was made under and what rights of appeal they have (reg 25(13)).

The appeal to the Minister

The person must serve a notice of appeal in the prescribed form (Form 9A) on an immigration officer, or on the person who served the order, within 24 hours of service of the deportation order (ss 13(3), 27(2); regs 30(1)–(2), 42). The notice must give an address for papers and say whether the person wishes to make representations. Written representations may then be submitted within 7 days of serving the notice of appeal (reg 30(4)–(5)). Neither the Act nor the Regulations provides for the 24 hours to be extended. Orders with no appeal include those made by the Minister under sections 9(5), 10(6) and 11, orders made on the examining medical officer’s certificate that the person is in one of the prohibited classes for mental or physical illness or disability, and orders on drug addiction or drug trafficking grounds (ss 9(5), 10(6), 11, 27(1)).

An appeal stays the deportation until it is decided (s 29(3)). Where no appeal lies, nothing in the Act stays the order: the person is to be deported “as soon as possible” (ss 9(5), 11) or “as soon as practicable” (s 10(6)), although the Minister may still cancel the order (s 27(6)). An appeal does not end detention: the person may be held pending the appeal but may apply to the Chief Immigration Officer for release (ss 16, 29(10); reg 29). The Minister may allow or dismiss the appeal (s 27(4)). Even after dismissing it, he may stay the order, or quash it and direct the person’s entry: for a former resident, having regard to all the circumstances; and for any other person, where there are reasonable grounds for believing the person would be punished for political activities or suffer unusual hardship, or where compassionate or humanitarian considerations warrant special relief (reg 28). The Minister may cancel any deportation order (s 27(6)).

Removal and returning

A deportation order is carried out as soon as practicable (s 29(1)), to the place the person came from, their country of nationality or birth, or another country the Minister approves (s 29(7)). The person may be detained while removal is arranged (s 29(10)).

The order stays valid after it is carried out unless the Minister cancels it, and the person must remain outside Trinidad and Tobago while it is in force (s 29(2), (6)). A removed person who enters or lives in Trinidad and Tobago without the Minister’s written permission commits an offence, is liable on summary conviction to a fine of TT$1,500 and to imprisonment for 6 months, and can be removed again (s 29(8)). A separate offence of failing to stay out while the order is in force carries the Act’s general penalty (ss 29(6), 42(1)). A challenge to an order is explained on the page on challenging a deportation order.