Three layers of US visa pressure now bear down on the Caribbean — and the response is fragmented

Wed, 13 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The visa pressure on Caribbean nationals from the United States now operates in three layers, and the cumulative effect is reshaping diaspora calculus across every CARICOM state. The first layer is the January 21 immigrant visa pause that named nearly every CARICOM member — Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines among 75 countries — and that remains in effect.

Regional-Policy on The Tradewinds Brief

Three layers of US visa pressure now bear down on the Caribbean — and the response is fragmented