The Trump administration is cracking down on Citizenship By Investment (CBI)  programs favoured by many Caribbean islands, particularly those from the eastern Caribbean.

Some Caribbean islands have made it a part of their income flows to charge thousands of dollars to acquire their passports. Thus, you can become a citizen of St Lucia, Antigua and St Kitts for the right sum with very little questions asked. Desperate for foreign exchange, these countries do not impose rigorous compliance or KYC stipulations. They are happy to sell their passports for monetary to whomever.

The U.S. has noted and warned about this growing practice, and now the Trump Administration has moved to curb it seeing it as a security danger. its homeland security.

With Caribbean islands in close proximity to the United States, enemy combatants, unsavoury characters, drug dealers and all manner of miscreants can get access with these passports to the United States undetected.

Many of the Caribbean governments did not take the U.S. admonishments seriously eager to rake in cash by selling their citizenship but with the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, airstrikes on that country and President Trump announcing that the U.S. in in full control of that country, the Caribbean as a whole has been put on notice.

It has been made clear that the islands of the Caribbean must comply to the will of the United States and conduct itself accordingly. It can no longer consort or do business with U.S. adversaries and if this is brazenly disregarded, countries will face consequences.

Antigua’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne is now been made aware of this.

The U.S. also wants to curtail the flow of migrants from the Caribbean by restricting visas and encouraging the people of the Caribbean to build lives in their own countries. It notes that all too often, Caribbean migrants overstay their stipulated time in the U.S. and abuse visa and Green Card terms.

The U.S. has pointed out that the CBI gives citizenship to” without residency which poses challenges for screening and vetting purposes.

The State Department issued a proclamation which read: “United States law enforcement and the Department of State have found that historically, CBI programs have been susceptible to several risks. These risks include allowing an individual to conceal his or her identity and assets to circumvent travel restrictions or financial and banking restrictions.”

More recently, the United States announced that travellers from Antigua, Dominica and Cuba will have to pay a refundable bond before entering the U.S. This begins from January 21, 2026. It applies to those who qualify for a B1, B2 visa which covers tourism, family visits and business travel. This will have to pay a bond in the range of US$5,000, $10,000 and $15,000, depending on the individual case. 

Speaking with Our Today, Joshua Rosen who worked with Kirstjen Nielsen, former Secretary of Homeland Security, when she was Senior Fellow at the George Washington University;s Center for Cyber and Homeland Security,  said, “At this time, U.S. national security is of paramount importance and threats are taken seriously. The CBI programs as they currently exists poses a major threat to this country. An enemy undetected can easily come into America from one of these islands undetected with intent to do serious harm. Now, Caribbean countries don’t care because they are getting money by selling their citizenship. We have to care.

“There are so many illegal migrants from the Caribbean. Women from Jamaica marrying for citizenship, planned anchor babies, people overstaying their visas. Caribbean governments need to help us with this. We do plenty for the Caribbean with aid and so forth but we expect some level of reciprocation.

“We have not put the hammer down on St. Kitts, Grenada and St. Lucia  yet, but they need to have more stringent requirements for their respective CBI programs. “