Bahamas News
No Call from Trump! Still the Islands make it clear where they Stand on Deportees
Deandrea Hamilton
Editor
December 11, 2024 – A misleading story carried by several US news organisations demanded a firm response by both The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands governments, when news reports cited these countries as among those on a list of possible deportation centers being wooed by the in-coming Trump Administration.
It seemed a mischievous attempt to gaslight these smaller nations about the newly elected president and his popular campaign promise to
send illegal migrants home, in massive numbers.
Soon, it would be explained that there was no call or direct offer to these governments by the Trump Administration team and, more significantly, no interest by either country to welcome in U.S. deportees. Still both the prime minister of The Bahamas and the Immigration and Border Services minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands immediately issued firm statements rejecting the idea.
“The Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands categorically states that we will not, under any circumstances, accept deportees from the United States or any other nation who are not citizens of Turks and Caicos. Our country’s immigration policies are clear and firmly rooted in the principles of sovereignty, the protection of our borders, and the welfare of our people,” said Arlington Musgrove, TCI Minister of Immigration and Border Services.
There was a similar reaction from The Bahamas; the Office of the Prime Minister informed also there has been no push from the US regarding the request.
“This matter was presented to the Government of The Bahamas but was reviewed and firmly rejected by the Prime Minister.
The Bahamas simply does not have the resources to accommodate such a request. The Prime Minister priorities remain focused on addressing the concerns of The Bahamian people,” said the Office of the Prime Minister.
The Bahamas in a follow up statement gave some history and offered insight on the origin of the proposal, which dates back to the Summit of the Americas staged in Los Angeles two years ago.
“In June of 2022, Prime Minister Philip Davis attended the Summit of the Americas, where regional migration was one of the items on the agenda.
During the Summit, countries were asked to sign a declaration on migration, which included language suggesting that countries support and host undocumented migrants.
The Bahamas did not sign this declaration, although 20 countries in the region did.
The Prime Minister made it clear to President Biden that our country will not bear this burden. We need to devote Bahamian resources to solving Bahamian problems.”
Both The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands have added to their initial statements, confirming that no one from president-elect Donald Trump’s office had been in communication on the touted plan.
“To be clear, our office responded to the proposal as characterized by the press, rather than any formal proposal made to us by President-elect Trump’s transition team, with whom we have not discussed the matter,” published The Bahamas.
More accurately, there was a news report carried by the BBC which exposed Panama’s experience in this U.S. procedure, which deports illegal migrants to the country where they entered the United States, despite their nationalities.
The BBC news story said: “The Biden administration said it had agreed to pay for the flights as part of its efforts to deter irregular migration.
A group of 29 Colombians with criminal records were the first to be returned on Tuesday.
Under an agreement jointly signed by the Panamanian foreign minister and US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the US has committed to helping Panama with $6m (£4.6m) for equipment, transportation and logistics to “remove foreign nationals who do not have a legal basis to remain in Panama”.
In the case of The Bahamas and The Turks and Caicos Islands, many from these two Small Island Developing States were stunned at the audacity and ramifications of such a plan.
“We are deeply concerned about any suggestion of displacing individuals to countries with which they have no connection. Such policies disregard the cultural, social, and economic implications for receiving countries and the humanitarian impact on the individuals affected.
We remind all stakeholders that Turks and Caicos is already facing significant challenges managing irregular migration and the accompanying strain on our resources. We will not permit external policies to exacerbate these challenges, nor undermine or dictate our national security,” said Minister Musgrove.
One attorney, speaking on a Nassau television show explained that based on current U.S. law, The Bahamas must now do a better job of scrutinising who is allowed into the country, ensuring that these islands are not used as a transit for immigrants who are targetting the United States as their final destination.
Panama’s new president, in a bid to uphold his presidential promise to voters, agreed to end his country being used as a crossing point for Haitians, Venezuelans and Colombians moving from South America into North America.
The BBC said: “Mr Mulino campaigned on a promise to “close” the Darién Gap, the dangerous stretch of jungle which more than half a million migrants crossed last year on their way north from South America.
The Biden administration said it had agreed to pay for the flights as part of its efforts to deter irregular migration.”
It is well known that Haitians, fleeing their poverty stricken island are sometimes successful in making landfall, illegally, in the United States after travelling through the Turks and Caicos and The Bahamas.
If The Bahamas is not careful, it “…could end up being forced to take these immigrants in.”
The Turks and Caicos could heed the same warning.
Statistically though, the number of those departing the neighbouring archipelagos to reside illegally in the U.S. is miniscule, however, it would be well within bounds for ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement) to deport undocumented individuals back to the country of departure.
Thankfully, most illegal migrants opt to be repatriated to their home country.
It is estimated there are over 11 million undocumented migrants currently in the United States. U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has vowed to start with illegal migrants who are convicted criminals.
PM: Project delivers on promise and invests in youth, sports and national development
GRAND BAHAMA, The Bahamas — Calling it the fulfillment of a major commitment to the island, Prime Minister Philip Davis led the official groundbreaking for the Grand Bahama Aquatic Centre, a facility the government says will transform sports development and create new opportunities for young athletes.
Speaking at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex on February 12, the Prime Minister said the project represents more than bricks and mortar
— it is an investment in people, national pride and long-term economic activity. The planned complex will feature a modern 50-metre competition pool, designed to meet international standards for training and regional and global swim meets. Davis said the facility will give Bahamian swimmers a home capable of producing world-class performance while also providing a space for community recreation, learn-to-swim programmes and water safety training.
He noted that Grand Bahama has long produced outstanding athletes despite limited infrastructure and said the new centre is intended to correct that imbalance, positioning the island as a hub for aquatic sports and sports tourism.
The Prime Minister also linked the development to the broader national recovery and revitalisation of Grand Bahama, describing the project as part of a strategy to expand opportunities for young people, create jobs during construction and stimulate activity for small businesses once operational.
The Aquatic Centre, he said, stands as proof that promises made to Grand Bahama are being delivered.
The project is expected to support athlete development, attract competitions, and provide a safe, modern environment for residents to access swimming and water-based programmes for generations to come.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
The Bahamas, February 15, 2026 – For the better part of three years, Bahamians have been told that major Afreximbank financing would help transform access to capital, rebuild infrastructure and unlock economic growth across the islands. The headline figures are large. The signing ceremonies are high profile. The language is ambitious. What remains far harder to see is the measurable impact in the daily lives of the people those announcements are meant to serve.
The Government’s push to secure up to $100 million from Afreximbank for roughly 200 miles of Family Island roads dates back to 2025. In
its February 11 disclosure, the bank outlined a receivables-discounting facility — a structure that allows a contractor to be paid early once work is completed, certified and invoiced, with the Government settling the bill later. It is not cash placed into the economy upfront. It does not, by itself, build a single mile of road. Every dollar depends on work first being delivered and approved.
The wider framework has been described as support for “climate-resilient and trade-enhancing infrastructure,” a phrase that, in practical terms, should mean projects that lower the cost of doing business, move people and goods faster, and keep the economy functioning. But for communities, that promise becomes real only when the projects are named, the standards are defined and a clear timeline is given for when work will begin — and when it will be finished.
Bahamians have seen this moment before.
In 2023, a $30 million Afreximbank facility for the Bahamas Development Bank was hailed as a breakthrough that would expand access to financing for local enterprise. It worked in one immediate and measurable way: it encouraged businesses to apply. Established, revenue-generating Bahamian companies responded to the call, prepared plans, and entered a process they believed had been capitalised to support growth. The unanswered question is how much of that capital has reached the private sector in a form that allowed those businesses to expand, hire and generate new economic activity.
Because development is not measured in the size of announcements.
It is measured in loans disbursed, projects completed and businesses expanded.
The pattern is becoming difficult to ignore. In June 2024, when Afreximbank held its inaugural Caribbean Annual Meetings in Nassau,
Grand Bahama was presented as the future home of an Afro-Caribbean marketplace said to carry tens of millions of dollars in investment. What was confirmed at that stage was a $1.86 million project-preparation facility — funding for studies and planning to make the development bankable, not construction financing. The larger build-out remains dependent on additional approvals, land acquisition and further capital.
This distinction — between financing announced and financing that produces visible, measurable outcomes — is now at the centre of the national conversation.
Because while the numbers grow larger on paper, entrepreneurs still describe access to capital as out of reach, and communities across the Family Islands are still waiting to see where the work will start.
And in an economy where stalled growth translates into lost opportunity, rising frustration and real social consequences, the gap between promise and delivery is no longer a communications issue.
It is an inability to convert announcements into outcomes.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
A hardline strategy that reduced murders, gunfire, and collateral deaths
The Bahamas, February 8, 2026 – What happens when police stop routinely granting bail to high-risk suspects and aggressively execute outstanding warrants? In The Bahamas, the answer in 2025 was fewer murders, fewer gunshots, and safer communities.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force arrested 4,337 individuals on outstanding warrants last year, ensuring suspects were brought directly before the courts instead of being released back onto the streets. At the same time, police significantly curtailed the use of police bail for high-risk and repeat offenders, particularly those already entangled in violent disputes.
Police Commissioner Shanta Knowles said the shift was informed by hard lessons from previous years. Intelligence reviews showed that
many homicide victims were not random targets, but men already wanted by law enforcement and — critically — by other criminals. When released on bail, those individuals often became targets themselves, triggering retaliatory shootings that spilled into neighbourhoods, roadways and public spaces.
By keeping high-risk suspects in custody pending court appearances, police say they disrupted that cycle — removing both potential offenders and potential victims from the streets.
The impact was stark. Murders declined by 31 percent in 2025, falling from 120 in 2024 to 83, the largest percentage decrease in homicides since national tracking began in 1963 and the lowest murder count in nearly two decades.
Police leaders say the strategy also reduced the collateral damage that had increasingly alarmed communities. Innocent residents had been caught in “sprays of gunfire” as targeted attacks unfolded in residential areas, at traffic stops, and in public settings.
Gun-violence indicators reflected the change. Gunshot reports fell by 35 percent, while incidents detected by ShotSpotter technology declined by 29 percent, confirming that fewer shots were being fired across the country.
“Gunshots ringing out and cutting through our peaceful paradise were down remarkably,” Commissioner Knowles said, attributing the improvement to decisive enforcement, tighter bail practices, and sustained pressure on offenders.
Police also intensified enforcement against breach of bail conditions, charging and detaining more suspects than in any previous reporting period. Officers say the approach removed the opportunity for repeat offending while matters were before the courts.
Police leadership said the results go beyond statistics. By limiting bail for high-risk suspects and executing warrants at scale, the strategy saved lives, protected bystanders, and restored confidence in public safety.
In 2025, fewer people were hunted, fewer bullets were fired, and fewer families were left grieving — a shift police say was no accident, but the result of deliberate, hardline choices.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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