Trinidad’s main opposition party has accused Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar of taking ‘tales’ about citizens she dislikes to American officials, causing dozens to have possibly had their entry visas revoked by the State Department.

Keith Rowley, who last year retired just weeks before his People’s National Movement (PNM) lost general elections to the prime minster’s United National Congress (UNC), is demanding that the head of government come clean on the number of citizens whose visas have been allegedly revoked because of actions taken by local authorities.

Rowley took to social media on Monday to demand answers from the prime minster, especially after the department had published a list of offenses which lead to automatic revocation of visas. These include those who had committed felony crimes, violence against US citizens, defrauded Americans, abused the US immigration system, or endangered national security. He argued that the prime minster and other officials had called for cancellation of visas for him and former prime minister Stuart Young, but there is no record of them committing any crimes against the US.

“Which of these offences were they guilty of? Besides Rowley and Young, how many other citizens she and her government have reported to the US government with a recommendation to have their visas cancelled," Rowley. “In recent times, the UNC leadership and others close to them have been warning and threatening the citizens about losing their US visas,” he said.

The latest row is a follow up to recent remarks in parliament by Attorney General John Jeremie, who confirmed the fact that several people linked to the opposition and big business in Trinidad had lost their visas to revocation.

For her part, the prime minster had lined up behind the Trump administration’s new approach to the issuance of visas by turning away people who had verbally attacked the US and who possessed negative feelings against the country.

“I think it is the height of hypocrisy and unkindness that there are people in our country who want to fight the Americans," the prime minster said. "You want to go to the people’s country, but you want to badmouth them. Isn’t that hypocrisy from some? They badmouthed in the U.S. and guess what happened? All their visas are restricted now. They have cut their visas, so behave yourself. Understand where our help comes from. Understand who can protect and defend Trinidad and Tobago. Right now, there is only one country in the world that can do it."