JavaScript is disabled in your web browser or browser is too old to support JavaScript. Today almost all web pages contain JavaScript, a scripting programming language that runs on visitor's web browser. It makes web pages functional for specific purposes and if disabled for some reason, the content or the functionality of the web page can be limited or unavailable.

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Chief Immigration Officer in contempt for deporting Venezuelans

by

45 days ago
20250524

The Of­fice of the Chief Im­mi­gra­tion Of­fi­cer (CIO) has been held in con­tempt of court for de­port­ing two Venezue­lan mi­grants when there was an in­junc­tion in place for them to re­main in Trinidad. 

High Court Judge Na­dia Kan­ga­loo made the or­der yes­ter­day as she up­held an ap­pli­ca­tion from lawyers for Julie Stephanie Vi­vas Abanero and Neyelis Del Valle Her­nan­dez Ugas. 

When the ap­pli­ca­tion was first made in 2020 dur­ing the tenure of for­mer CIO Char­maine Gand­hi-An­drews, the duo’s lawyers led by Lee Mer­ry, SC, were ini­tial­ly seek­ing the con­tempt or­der as well as an un­de­fined fine. 

How­ev­er, they with­drew the re­quest for the lat­ter when pre­sent­ing sub­mis­sions on ap­pli­ca­tion.

As part of her de­ci­sion, Jus­tice Kan­ga­loo or­dered the State to pay the duo’s le­gal costs for the ap­pli­ca­tion.  

Both women fled their coun­try due to on­go­ing so­cial and eco­nom­ic is­sues and ar­rived in Moru­ga via a boat.

They were even­tu­al­ly ar­rest­ed for en­ter­ing T&T il­le­gal­ly in No­vem­ber 2018 and were sen­tenced to six months in prison af­ter plead­ing guilty to the of­fence. 

Af­ter serv­ing their sen­tences at the Gold­en Grove Women’s Prison in Arou­ca, they were trans­ferred to the Im­mi­gra­tion De­ten­tion Cen­tre in Aripo to await de­por­ta­tion. 

They spent sev­er­al months at the cen­tre be­fore their lawyers filed a ju­di­cial re­view chal­leng­ing their lengthy de­ten­tion be­fore pro­posed de­por­ta­tion. 

On No­vem­ber 16, 2019, High Court Judge Eleanor Don­ald­son-Hon­ey­well grant­ed an in­junc­tion or­der­ing that they not be de­port­ed pend­ing the de­ter­mi­na­tion of their law­suit. 

In the con­tempt of court ap­pli­ca­tion, the duo’s lawyers con­tend­ed that they emailed Don­ald­son-Hon­ey­well’s or­der to Gand­hi-An­drews and then-Deputy Chief Im­mi­gra­tion Of­fi­cer Derek Craig­well.

 They al­so claimed that they spoke to Craig­well via tele­phone but he claimed that he could not pro­vide any as­sis­tance. 

The lawyers even called the cell­phone of one of the women and asked them to hand it over to the flight at­ten­dant, who claimed that she could not do any­thing with­out per­mis­sion from im­mi­gra­tion of­fi­cials. 

Gand­hi-An­drews re­tired in 2023. 

The duo was al­so rep­re­sent­ed by Lemuel Mur­phy, and Devvon Williams. 


Related articles

Sponsored

Weather

PORT OF SPAIN WEATHER

Sponsored

Today's
Guardian

Publications

A model in a costume from The Lost Tribe’s 2026 presentation Island Circus

A model in a costume from The Lost Tribe’s 2026 presentation Island Circus

KERWIN PIERRE

A model in a costume from The Lost Tribe’s 2026 presentation Island Circus

A model in a costume from The Lost Tribe’s 2026 presentation Island Circus

KERWIN PIERRE

Ringmasters of the Road: Crowds flock to Tribe’s circus-themed band launch

11 hours ago
Students, principal and staff of St David’s RC Primary, along with the UWTT and Scotiabank Foundation teams at the handover of steelpans at the school.

Students, principal and staff of St David’s RC Primary, along with the UWTT and Scotiabank Foundation teams at the handover of steelpans at the school.

Students, principal and staff of St David’s RC Primary, along with the UWTT and Scotiabank Foundation teams at the handover of steelpans at the school.

Students, principal and staff of St David’s RC Primary, along with the UWTT and Scotiabank Foundation teams at the handover of steelpans at the school.

Scotiabank Foundation, United Way donate steelpans

11 hours ago
The Executive of the National Parang Association 2025-27. Back row, from left: Kervin Preudhomme, assistant secretary; Shaquille Headley, committee member; Cheriese Pierre, committee member; Lisa Lee, trustee; Joanne Briggs, PRO; Yarelis Touissant, committee member; William Calliste, trustee. Front row, from left: Jenais Carter, secretary; Alicia Jaggasar, president; Henrietta Carter, vice president; Joseph Bertrand, youth officer. Missing: Kerrylee Chee Chow, treasurer; Chevone Pierre, committee member.

The Executive of the National Parang Association 2025-27. Back row, from left: Kervin Preudhomme, assistant secretary; Shaquille Headley, committee member; Cheriese Pierre, committee member; Lisa Lee, trustee; Joanne Briggs, PRO; Yarelis Touissant, committee member; William Calliste, trustee. Front row, from left: Jenais Carter, secretary; Alicia Jaggasar, president; Henrietta Carter, vice president; Joseph Bertrand, youth officer. Missing: Kerrylee Chee Chow, treasurer; Chevone Pierre, committee member.

The Executive of the National Parang Association 2025-27. Back row, from left: Kervin Preudhomme, assistant secretary; Shaquille Headley, committee member; Cheriese Pierre, committee member; Lisa Lee, trustee; Joanne Briggs, PRO; Yarelis Touissant, committee member; William Calliste, trustee. Front row, from left: Jenais Carter, secretary; Alicia Jaggasar, president; Henrietta Carter, vice president; Joseph Bertrand, youth officer. Missing: Kerrylee Chee Chow, treasurer; Chevone Pierre, committee member.

The Executive of the National Parang Association 2025-27. Back row, from left: Kervin Preudhomme, assistant secretary; Shaquille Headley, committee member; Cheriese Pierre, committee member; Lisa Lee, trustee; Joanne Briggs, PRO; Yarelis Touissant, committee member; William Calliste, trustee. Front row, from left: Jenais Carter, secretary; Alicia Jaggasar, president; Henrietta Carter, vice president; Joseph Bertrand, youth officer. Missing: Kerrylee Chee Chow, treasurer; Chevone Pierre, committee member.

Jaggasar returns as National Parang president

Yesterday
Charles Town junior drummers and dancers take to the stage

Charles Town junior drummers and dancers take to the stage

Charles Town junior drummers and dancers take to the stage

Charles Town junior drummers and dancers take to the stage

Jamaican Maroons celebrate, question land rights

Yesterday