On Wednesday, the Antigua and Barbuda government questioned legislation before two Committees in the United States House of Representatives regarding the Citizenship by Investment Programs (CBI).
On March 3, three U.S. legislators introduced the “No Travel for Traffickers Act” designed to penalize countries that operate CBI programs, including revoking their eligibility for U.S. visa waivers and working on the United Kingdom and the European Union to eliminate visa-free travel in the Schengen area.
Antigua and Barbuda is one of several Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries and those in Europe and North America that operate CBI programs, which they say play a significant role in their government’s earnings and gross domestic product.
In a letter to the members of the House of Representatives Committees on the Judiciary and Foreign Relations, Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders, said St. John’s “fully agrees that measures should be taken against any country whose government abuses its citizenship and residential programs, such as the U.S. EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, to allow criminal activity of any kind”.
He explained that “Antigua and Barbuda strongly oppose the abuse of citizenship and investor programs” and that he thought it appropriate to clarify that his country’s program “ensures no abuse by criminals, no opportunity for human trafficking, and no tolerance for any person who may pose a threat to our neighbors, such as the U.S., or to the global community, or ourselves.”
The Act was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressmen Burgess Owen (Utah), Steve Cohen (Tennessee), and Tom Malinowski of New York.
In introducing the Act, the Congressmen claimed that “these schemes require little vetting and are notoriously abused by human traffickers, international criminals, and corrupt oligarchs. Russia is one of the world’s worst offenders when it comes to using these golden passport schemes as a back door into other countries.”
In his letter to the members of the two Committees, Sir Ronald said, “when the Russian Federation invaded the sovereign state of Ukraine, my government immediately banned all Russians and Belarusians, whether on a list of persons subject to sanctions, from being considered for access to our Citizenship by Investment Program.
“That policy position was taken on March 4 and communicated to all agencies concerned with the program. It has been strictly enforced by the police, Immigration Control, and the Citizenship by Investment Unit.”
The Antigua and Barbuda Ambassador also told the U.S. House Representatives, including the three who introduced the Act, that “every person who applies for consideration under our Citizenship by Investment scheme is subject to several layers of intense investigation.
“These include but are not limited to a police report from their country of origin and their country of residence; clearance from INTERPOL that they are not wanted by any country in the world and are not fugitives from justice; and a full review of their financial background, companies, and businesses with which they have been associated by international due diligence companies.”
The Antigua and Barbuda diplomat said, therefore, “it would not be correct to suggest that the Citizenship by Investment Program in Antigua and Barbuda “require(s) little vetting” or that it is “abused by human traffickers, international criminals, and corrupt oligarchs” as is suggested by the three Congressmen.
In offering to provide any further information, including by testifying before the U.S. House Committees, Sir Ronald urged the U.S. Congressmen to “examine carefully the operations of the Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship by Investment Program before taking legislative action that will be extremely harmful to a consistent ally of the United States even before the independence of both our countries.”
CMC
