Congressman Jeffries: ‘We hear your concerns’ - US BACKS TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO GUN FIGHT

In admitting that most of the guns that illegally enter TT are manufactured in his country, US House of Representatives' Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has given assurance to Caricom that this will be addressed with great urgency. He said the administration of US President Joe Biden "has heard the concerns related to gun trafficking and gun violence here in TT and throughout the Caribbean, and we're prepared to respond decisively to address it."

Jeffries was part of the delegation that visited TT for the 45th Caricom heads of government summit, held from Monday-Wednesday.

US State Secretary Antony Blinken also attended the summit.

Jeffries thanked the Prime Minister for hosting the delegation in "such a phenomenal way" and for his "insight, wisdom, hospitality and leadership" during a media conference at the Diplomatic Centre, Port of Spain on Thursday.

He said TT and the US share a special relationship and that the summit was informative as they came to TT "to listen to find a common path forward. And then to go back to Washington DC to act in the best interests of the relationship between the US and TT, act in the best interests of the relationship between America and Caricom."

He said the two countries share history as well as values and have "a multi-ethnic, thriving democracy.

"The issues that have been discussed so eloquently as been raised by the Prime Minister include finding a path forward to tackle the challenges related to the explosion, unacceptably, of gun trafficking and gun violence."

Gun violence, he said, is no stranger to the members of Congress there as it's a topic that is also being addressed in the US. But he added that it, "unfortunately, has been visited upon the people of TT.

"And we understand that the guns that are being illegally trafficked here to TT, that are being used in violent acts, are guns that aren't manufactured here in TT. They're guns that, in almost every instance, is (sic) manufactured and initially purchased in the US

"To challenge, that we are going to confront and confront decisively in the best interests of our two countries."

The ownership and use of guns in the US is an ongoing discussion as many remain in support of this.

Asked if this poses an additional challenge in what the US hopes to achieve with TT, he said the Biden administration was able to "break the back of that strong gun lobby and pass gun safety legislation in America for the first time in 30 years.

"That is a foundation to do more, but may also provide us with an opportunity to meet the moment in terms of the gun trafficking challenges that we confront in the US and that you confront here in TT, the bipartisan Safer Communities Act for the first time made gun trafficking and straw purchasing, both internal within the US and in terms of the international trafficking of guns to places like TT – a federal crime – and it will give the Department of Justice, it will give the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), it will give the FBI the ability now to more aggressively go after the gun traffickers who are flooding our communities in the US and your country here in TT with weapons of war in ways that are unconscionable and unacceptable. Let me also say that the Biden administration clearly shares this commitment."

On the topic of containers that are shipped to TT from the US, he said the country will continue to " try to ascertain the process by which the guns are being trafficked.

"Is it through containers? Is it coming in through ports of entry and shipping channels that being brought in through airplane? Flight? Is it all of the above?

"We intend to take the information that we continue to receive from Prime Minister Rowley and the administration here in TT to try to enhance our enforcement efforts. We want to be good neighbours. The last thing that we want to do is export our gun violence problem to TT and we take the challenges that you now face seriously, and intend to work with the administration back in the US to encourage them to use all available resources in terms of enforcement to look at what comes in, but also what is going out."

Yvette Clarke, member of the US' Committee on Homeland Security said the US already has the technology for container screening, but "the deployment, how much resource is being dedicated to it..."

Jeffries also said the administration will "look into" the possibility of donating more mobile vehicle and cargo inspection system (VACIS) scanners to TT.

In 2018, the US donated four of these.

Asked how much focus will be placed on the trafficking of guns to Haiti, which is seeing the rise of criminal gangs, Jeffries said the US has to take a comprehensive look at the challenges faced by all Caricom countries.

"Every single leader that we've met with, over the course of the last day or so has raised gun trafficking and gun violence as a challenge. Certainly, Prime Minister Rowley has raised it as a significant issue that we need to find a way to tackle and tackle decisively and it is our intention to do just that."

On Wednesday, Blinken announced that US attorney Michael Ben’Ary was appointed co-ordinator for the US Department of Justice's (DOJ) Caribbean Firearms Prosecutions – a new role created in June.

In March, it was announced that Caricom's Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) partnered with law-enforcement agencies in the US to form the Crime Gun Intelligence Unit (CGIU).

The US also recently announced the creation of a regional forensic centre in St Lucia as part of a US$100 million investment in the region to address crime and climate change.

Newsday asked Jeffries for more information about this role and what it entails.

He said the role is "an acknowledgement of the fact that the voices of the prime minister here in TT, of other Caricom leaders going back to the conference that was held in Los Angeles, continuing through the dialogue that was led in part by (US) Vice President (Kamala) Harris with Caricom leaders earlier in the Bahamas through this engagement that took place here in TT over the last day or so that the voices and the concerns that have been raised have been heard.

He added, "We certainly will make sure that we communicate to the Biden administration that there's great interest in providing as much visibility and insight into the role as it develops. But I think that the people of TT should take it as a clear sign that the US that the Congress, that the Biden administration has heard the concerns related to gun trafficking and gun violence here in TT and throughout the Caribbean."