Five days after Venezuelan migrant Juan Manuel Acosta was deported, he returned to TT. One of his lawyers, Blaine Sobrian, is now calling on the Commissioner of Police to investigate National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds for crimes against humanity for signing Acosta's deportation order.
In a 51-page legal letter to CoP Erla Harewood-Christopher, Sobrian, from the firm Quantum Legal, said Acosta was deported on August 12.
"Our client instructs that his deportation was wholly and utterly improper and illegal, contravening and/or bypassing several mandatory provisions of the Immigration Act. We now gravely fear that the circumstances surrounding our client’s deportation may not have been an isolated incident but that our other clients may have suffered an identical experience."
The letter states "re-entered" the country despite the deportation order. However, no details on how Acosta was able to re-enter the country were provided. Earlier on Wednesday a series of messages began circulating on social media, from someone claiming to be assisting Acosta.
"Good morning, resettled refugee Juan Manuel Acosta expelled from Trinidad on August 13 2023. He has returned to Trinidad and Tobago because his life, physical integrity and security were in danger in Venezuela, just as it is more than ever in Trinidad and Tobago..."
The message also states Acosta's attempts to contact various agencies in TT to assist him in resettling in the US.
In Sobrian's letter to Harewood-Christopher Acosta's surrender to authorities is mentioned.
The firm said Acosta was approved for resettlement in the US through the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
"In recognition of our duty to the State and the administration of justice, we have advised our client to surrender himself to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. He is willing to avail himself to your good self and seeks your protection as a witness and as a witness in fear."
Sobrian said Acosta wanted to file a report against Hinds, the Immigration Division and its personnel for "offences contrary to Section 41(1) and 42(1) of the Immigration Act."
The claim states the proper procedure was not followed before Acosta was served with a deportation order.
According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), when asylum-seekers are detained under a detention order, a special inquiry must follow.
"A special inquiry is a hearing conducted by a special inquiry officer to determine whether you should be granted voluntary repatriation or deportation. If you are seeking asylum, you are encouraged to state this at the beginning of the hearing," the UNHCR states on its website.
Sobrian said this was not done in Acosta's case.
"The examination, if it warrants such a description, was superficial in that our client was allegedly only asked two (2) questions: (a) whether he worked in Trinidad; and (b) whether he had entered the country illegally.
"Thereafter our client received a Form 19B order of deportation signed by the minister and dated
