Hours in heat to get US visa interview

THE EDITOR: I have read in the dailies about citizens of our country being held in handcuffs and shackles by the US Immigration Officers at US Airports when it was alleged that their travel documents were not in order or that they did not have enough money to keep them in the USA for the duration of their intended stay there.

We cannot, in all seriousness lay these inhumane practices at the feet of the US Ambassador here as he is not responsible for his Govern-ment’s policies and actions. If what was reported in the local press is true, then our Government should protest this treatment to our citizens, through our Foreign Minister, to the Foreign Office of the USA. I repeat, the US Embassy here cannot hold itself responsible for the policies of its Government. What, however, I, like most citizens of TT, am most unhappy about is the treatment meted out to our citizens in our own land by the US Embassy here. Just imagine, in this day and age, the US Embassy has our citizens, who wish visas to travel to the USA, queue on Marli Street, standing for hours in the unbearable heat and now compounded by the rain, some without hope of being attended to. Think of a stint of six hours without bathroom facilities at all.

Our authorities are allowing Marli Street to remain closed without legal authority with local US Embassy Security guards enforcing this illegal act. These guards enforcing this closure are exceeding their authority since the guards authority are confined to the estate of the US Embassy. A public road in TT cannot by any stretch of the imagination be considered the estate of the USA. Be that as it may, no one will quarrel if Marli Street remains closed and the Embassy put down a large tent there with chairs underneath where our citizens, especially the old, could shelter the rain and sun while awaiting attention of the US Immigration Department of the Embassy. I would have expected that our Foreign Minister would have sought protection for us in this regard. It is not however too late for him to tackle this problem. Prime Minister, put a hand please, for while we could have no problem with whether or not we get visas, we do not wish to be treated as second class citizens by guests in our country.

JOSEPH CARLTON
MAURICE
Curepe