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US Customs and Border Protection Hosts Border Security Professional Exchange in Barbados
O
n April 25-27, United States Cus-
toms and Border Protection hosted
a border security professional ex-
change with Caribbean Community
(CARICOM) Advance Passenger Information Sys-
tem (APIS) member states and regional partners
focused on issues of mutual concern related to
border management throughout the Caribbean.
The exchange was designed to increase
collaboration between international partners
and the United States government on border
security. Subject matter experts led robust and
productive discussions on topics such as for-
eign terrorist fighters, border security, migra-
tion trends, and countering criminal networks.
Participants included leaders working in
customs, immigration, and police operations, as
well as permanent secretaries from the fol-
lowing CARICOM member states: Antigua and
Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana,
Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St.
Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Surina-
me, and Trinidad and Tobago. Additional partic-
ipants included border security professionals
from the Dominican Republic, Panama, and the
United States; as well as the Netherlands, the
United Kingdom, and those two nations’ re-
spective overseas territories.
The three-day exchange was funded by the
US Department of State under the Caribbean
Basin Security Initiative but did not include
any “police leaders” from Saint Lucia, which is
subject to sanctions under the Leahy Amend-
ment to the Foreign Assistance Act, restricting
US aid to the island’s police force.
According to a State Department spokes-
person, the US government invited St. Lucia’s
permanent secretary, deputy comptroller, and
assistant comptroller of Customs to focus on
border security challenges.
The professional exchange opened with
keynote remarks from the US Ambassador to
Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean and the OECS,
Linda Taglialatela, and Rayburn Blackmoore,
Minister of Justice, Immigration and National
Security for Dominica and Chair of the Council
for National Security and Law Enforcement
within CARICOM.
“For the region’s borders to be secure, we
must not only work within our sovereign
states to identify and implement action,” Ta-
glialatela said. “We must also seek input from
Caribbean and US government agencies, and
our partner nations around the globe. That is
how we effectively secure our communities
and protect our citizens -- and our families.”