On Sunday, 200 Venezuelan nationals were detained in St. James during a police raid.
Police officers referred to the operation as a combined National Security exercise because it involved personnel from the Immigration Division, the Defense Force, and the Police Service.
Police officers went to a pub on the Western Main Road in St. James at 1:30 am and found a large group of individuals attending the manager’s birthday party there.
The authorities then started making checks to see if these people, who were allegedly between the ages of 17 and 46, were registered.
After they failed to present documentation of their lawful arrival and status in Trinidad and Tobago, they were subsequently imprisoned.
Those who had been detained were subsequently driven to Chaguaramas Heliport.
As the captives were loaded into various buses, curious bystanders lined the Western Main Road to see.
Justice Frank Seepersad declared on Tuesday that Trinidad and Tobago is exempt from the 1951 UN Refugee Convention’s requirements and the non-refoulment principle since these provisions are not part of domestic law.
The Venezuelan national Yohan Jesus Rangel Dominguez, who had contested a deportation order the Ministry of National Security issued in March, brought a legal challenge and a constitutional claim that led to his decision.
