WASHINGTON, United States (CMC) – The United States (US) Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says it has signed a landmark Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) enabling a Biometric Data Sharing Partnership with the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS).

DHS said on Friday that the MOC was signed in Washington by Rob Law, Under Secretary of Strategy, Policy, & Plans for DHS, and Lieutenant Colonel Michael Jones, executive director for Caricom Impacs.

The Ambassador of St Kitts and Nevis hosted the signing ceremony with attendees from Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, DHS said.

It said representatives from the US Homeland Security Council and the US Department of State also attended the ceremony.

“The signing of this memorandum of cooperation marks DHS’s first multilateral biometric information-sharing arrangement,” said Under Secretary Rob Law. “This will strengthen cooperation between DHS and Caricom Impacs on border security and immigration vetting.

“DHS welcomes this new partnership to strengthen security across the region,” he added.

DHS said the MOC establishes a framework for automated queries and exchanges of data to support screening, vetting, and investigation of individuals who may pose security or immigration risks to the United States and Caricom member states and associate members.

In addition, DHS said the MOC addresses the Eastern Caribbean’s Citizenship-by-Investment programmes.

The DHS noted that US Presidential Proclamation 10998 states that “purchased citizenship can be used to bypass travel restrictions or conceal identity and assets; as such, it imposes certain visa restrictions on Citizenship-by-Investment nationals.”

“Information shared through the BDSP program strengthens vetting practices and addresses some of the risks identified in the Proclamation, while leaving visa and 212(f) authorities unchanged,” DHS said.

The US State Department also said that the MOC marks a significant step by Caribbean countries in alignment with US immigration integrity and border security standards.

DHS and Caricom Impacs said they aim to operationalise the MOC by the end of the year.