Antigua and Barbuda is proposing that no third-country national be transferred from the United States without a valid passport and a realistic path to leave Antigua afterward, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said.

The requirement is part of draft operating procedures Browne discussed Saturday on Pointe FM’s Browne and Browne Show. The proposed terms are still subject to negotiation with Washington.

Under the draft, each person would need an unexpired passport issued by their country of nationality. Before approving a transfer, Antigua and Barbuda would also have to be satisfied that the person could lawfully enter that country or another onward destination acceptable to the government.

The United States would be asked to provide a copy of the passport and information showing that the proposed destination would admit the person. That information would have to identify any known legal, diplomatic or practical obstacle to their return or onward travel.

Browne said the safeguard is intended to prevent Antigua and Barbuda from receiving people who cannot subsequently leave.

“We’re not accepting anyone without a travel document, because if they don’t have a travel document, then clearly we’ll be stuck with them,” he said.

A passport alone would not guarantee admission. The proposal would require Antigua and Barbuda’s express written approval for each individual before a transfer could take place. It would also limit the number of people transferred to no more than seven in any three-month period, without obliging the government to accept that many.

Browne said Antigua and Barbuda had revised a U.S. proposal and sent its terms back for consideration. The passport and onward travel conditions have not been announced as an agreement accepted by both governments.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: No Passport, No Transfer: Antigua Sets Conditions for U.S. Deportees.