The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro has not yet received any information on the number of Montenegrin citizens in the United States (US) who have been designated for deportation from that country, or details regarding any individual case.
This was told to "Vijesti" by the department he heads. Ervin Ibrahimovic, answering the question of how many Montenegrin citizens he planned to deport from the US, in accordance with the decision of the US president Donald Trump.
Al Jazeera, citing data from the US Immigration Service from January this year, reported that citizens of the former Yugoslav republics have also been designated for deportation, including 68 from Montenegro. 185 people from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), 118 from Kosovo, 341 from North Macedonia, 126 from Croatia, 50 from Serbia and 16 from Slovenia were designated for deportation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that they have been informed of the US president's new decisions regarding immigration policy, which implies initial familiarization of all countries with the new regulations.
"So far, there has been no information on the number of persons or details regarding any individual case. All citizens of Montenegro who are in the United States of America and, possibly, are in a situation where they have been ordered to leave the territory of the United States, can return to their country, and if they need consular assistance, the Embassy of Montenegro in Washington and the Consulate General in New York are at their disposal, which will provide them with support in accordance with their jurisdiction and applicable regulations," Ibrahimović's department said.
Since taking office on January 20, Trump has intensified the arrests and deportations of undocumented migrants, and has declared a state of emergency on the US-Mexico border.
The US Congress has passed a stricter law, according to which migrants without valid residency status can now be detained in immigration centers not only for serious crimes, but also for minor offenses. For example, for shoplifting.
Al Jazeera reports that the arrests were broken down by country of citizenship and criminal history categories, which include individuals with criminal convictions in the US, pending criminal charges in the US, and those without convictions or pending charges but who violated US immigration laws, including visa overstays and Visa Waiver Program violations.
This category includes those who have re-violated U.S. law by re-entering after deportation, immigration fugitives with an executive final order of removal, and international fugitives wanted for crimes committed abroad.
From the Western Balkans, according to data from October 24, 2024, the most arrested were from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 113, followed by Albania 60, Kosovo 33, Serbia 26, North Macedonia 25, Croatia 16 and Montenegro 12.
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