Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander has confirmed the Government will seek to enact legislation requiring all citizens aged 16 and over to have a valid form of identification on them when they are in public spaces.In a telephone interview yesterday, he said the requirement will also apply to foreign nationals in public spaces in Trinidad and Tobago.
A Cabinet Minute dated April 2, 2026, which was leaked and circulated on social media yesterday, proposed amendments to legislation requiring all citizens aged 16 and over to possess a valid form of identification in public spaces.The Cabinet referred the note to the Finance and General Purposes Committee for consideration.In response to questions from the Express, Alexander confirmed that the Cabinet note was authentic.Asked if it would be an offence for someone to fail to produce identification to law enforcement upon request, Alexander said this was still being worked out.However, he said a person would be given a “grace” period to present his/her identification and that, in his view, anyone who fails to do so should be made to pay a fine or some other penalty.“Coming from law enforcement, there are a lot of persons in and around our country who are using other persons’ names. When you have a picture ID attached to your name, we see who you are,” he said.Alexander explained that the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service is faced with challenges when officers try to serve warrants.“Police would have a warrant for ‘John Brown’ and when they get a call describing John Brown and giving his location, when the police arrive there looking for John Brown he say his name is ‘Harry James’.“How are we to identify him and deal with this? When people come to do legitimate business they have to be identified. Let these persons produce ID,” he said.Alexander said photo identification was also required when employing people.He pointed out that this was a requirement in other countries and that people complied with the law.The initiative will also give young people a greater sense of belonging to their country, he opined.“We must be able to easily separate the criminals from the law-abiding citizens,” he said.Alexander said all these plans and policies have been in the works for some time, and efforts are under way to implement them.He said there will be collaboration between the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) and various ministries to ensure people are able to obtain their national identification cards.The minister said in the case of teenagers, measures will be taken to have the EBC visit schools so that students aged 16 and over can register for and receive their national identification cards before leaving school.
