ICE report lists four Antigua and Barbuda nationals among the OECS citizens deported from the USA in 2022

The annual report of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on deportation shows that four Antiguans were among the 32 OECS nationals who were deported from the United States in 2022.

According to a report in the St. Lucia Times, the ICE report does not clearly indicate the reasons for the deportations.  However, it does indicate that, in 2022, U.S. authorities conducted nearly twice the number of administrative arrests than it did in 2021.

According to the St. Lucia paper, the other OECS countries whose citizens were returned home include St. Vincent & The Grenadines, with 10; Dominica, with five nationals; and St. Kitts & Nevis and St. Lucia, with four each.

ICE was created in 2003 and is a merger of several enforcement elements of the former U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Reportedly, it has more than 20,000 law enforcement and support personnel in more than 400 offices in the United States and around the world.