HOMELAND Security Minister Roger Alexander assured that phase three of the Migrant Registration Framework (MRF) would begin as soon as phase two was complete.
He was speaking with the Express in a phone interview following comments made by undocumented migrants who did their in-person interviews at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar, Arima.
After completing their interviews, many said they were informed that they would receive a call to proceed to the third and final phase of the process, but were not given a date or timeframe for when that call would come.
Speaking about delays in the registration process, he said: “What we realised was happening this morning is that a lot of persons coming to register, they didn’t fill out the forms and all of these things this morning and come with copies. So that is causing the process to slow down somewhat, so it’s because of their own actions that are slowing down the process.”
He continued: “Once we complete this second phase of the registration process then they would receive that phone call and they would be given certain instructions as to where to go and all of that.
“We would have catered for this situation existing so we are up to the task and we will get the job done.
“This should have been done more than 40 years ago and when it was done in 2019 (under the previous administration) so we would not have been engaging this situation now,” he added.
The minister was also asked if there was another way that Caricom nationals could have initially registered to live in Trinidad and Tobago so that they did not have to face this type of registration process.
He responded: “What happened is that they were here for a number of years and went nowhere to be registered. So, all in all, the information is that they are, in fact, illegal here. So, we were catering for persons who were in fact illegal here, so now that they came and registered, they will be able to enjoy some of the rights that they would not have enjoyed before.”
He speculated that some of the undocumented migrants may have found themselves in an illegal predicament in Trinidad and Tobago because they may have overstayed their time and not taken the steps to stay legally.
“If you go to your embassy and all of that, most likely there would have been some complications there.”
To address this issue, he explained: “What we told them to do is listen, ‘You are illegal here, come and register.’ Let us know who you are, let us know where you are. Don’t let the children stay home, let us know about them so that we could put proper mechanisms in place so that you can have them educated.”
“The process here is for you to understand; listen, if you come to another man’s country, you come to uplift the other man’s country and yourself,” said Alexander to migrants who are undocumented.
The minister was also asked if persons who register under the MRF would now be able to go to their embassy to apply to legally stay in Trinidad and Tobago.
He said: “After this process, we will see what we can work with again to improve the situation. The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, she thought of the situation that exists presently, what we met here, and we knew that we will be able to do something about it.”
Speaking of his visits to the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva and the Hasely Crawford National Stadium in Port of Spain, both sites that have begun the in-person phase of the MRF following the online registration component, the minister said that he was told by some of the undocumented migrants at those locations that they were grateful for the opportunity to be able to register.
He further commented on the migrant registration process and said that it was “going quite well”. The minister also offered praise to people who were involved in the administrative process of the registration.
“I want to commend the persons involved in Homeland Security and the Ministry of Defence who came out today to assist in this process. This immigration department, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, the Defence Force, intelligence agencies and good law-abiding citizens,” he said.
The Express also reached out to the Homeland Security minister asking how many people registered yesterday and was told that they were still being tallied.
The MRF launched with online registration from January 26 to February 25 with Alexander reporting last week more than 27,000 applications were submitted overall via the migrant registration website. Of that figure, 23,342 applications were from Venezuelan nationals. The in-person phase, which began yesterday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium (Port of Spain), Larry Gomes Stadium (Arima) and Ato Boldon Stadium (Couva), continues to Friday, March 27, 2026. For migrants in Tobago, the in-person phase begins today at the Dwight Yorke Stadium and continues to Wednesday, March 11, 2026.
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