US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, today announced that the United States Government will be working with Guyana on illegal immigration, with a view to keep criminals out of the two countries.

He said the policy would form part of a broader security architecture which will see information sharing being a top priority.

‘So, I think if we have information, that someone has entered your country who has bad intentions, we want to be able to share that with your government because we don’t want that, if we have information about a gang member in Venezuela, we want to ensure that we have that information and we are sharing that information,” Rubio noted.

Rubio, who is in Guyana as part of a Caribbean tour to advance the United States policy in the region, noted that Guyana is transitioning from being a country where people primarily emigrated to one where immigration may become more prominent. He said the US is working to support this shift. 

In addition, he said the country’s growing economy, labour needs and geography may make it easier for unsuspecting people to come in.

“We want to prevent these problems from happening, so from the perspective of Guyana which is not a source country of migration which is not a source country of illegal migration to the United States per se, but it is a country that receives, unfortunately you are getting a lot of people, most people are coming to work hard but not everyone,” Rubio stated.

The US is involved in a series of migration governance needs assessments, including one for Guyana, to understand the challenges and opportunities in the region’s migration systems. 

The US is also seeking to foster regional unity and shared goals in migration management.

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