Judge stops another Venezuelan deportation

A judge has stopped the repatriation of a Venezuelan woman three days after a deportation order was issued for her.

The woman was part of a group of mainly women and children who returned to Trinidad two days after they were escorted out of TT waters by the Coast Guard in November.

On Monday, Justice Avason Quinlan-Williams ordered the State not to take steps to remove the women from the jurisdiction until she hears and determines the woman’s claims for constitutional redress.

The judge also deemed the matter to be fit and requiring the court’s urgent attention.

On Friday, a deportation order was issued by National Security Minister Stuart Young for the woman.

Her attorneys, Gerald Ramdeen, Dayadai Harripaul, Umesh Maharj and Nerisa Bala, filed an application for interim relief seeking to prevent her repatriation.

The woman and several others were being housed at the State’s quarantine facility for migrants at the heliport in Chaguaramas.

The woman had previously sought, and received, an extension of a previous order to prevent the State from sending her back to Venezuela.

When her lawyers wrote to the Immigration Division in January, they were told the woman was not in its custody. They sent a pre-action protocol letter to the Chief of Defence Staff asking for her to be released and were told she was at the heliport on a detention order so that an inquiry could be held in accordance with the Immigration Act.

The attorneys argued that in the matter involving a six-year-old who was also part of the group, the Court of Appeal had ruled that those who were on the trip should not be deported until their applications for constitutional relief were determined.

So far almost 20 of them have been ordered to be released until Quinlan-Williams decides on their constitutional claims.