Police officer Earlando E. Baynes, who was charged with Breach of Trust in January 2025 and later convicted has been ordered deported from the Territory by Governor Daniel Pruce. Photo: Facebook/File

Governor Daniel Pruce has made his first Deportation Order for 2026. Photo: GIS/File

According to the Deportation Order made on January 29, 2026, and published in the Official Gazette on February 3, 2026, Earlando Earlan Baynes is a person not deemed to belong to the Territory, and that the said Mr Baynes has been convicted of the offence of Breach of Trust which is punishable with imprisonment of three months or more and, “is a person whose presence in the Territory would, in the opinion of the Governor, acting after consultation with the Chief Immigration Officer, be undesirable and not conducive to the public good.”

Section 40(1)(b) and (c) of the Immigration and Passport Act (Revised Edition 2013) states that if at any time after a person, other than a person deemed to belong to the Territory, has landed in the Territory, it shall come to the knowledge of the Governor that the person has been convicted of any offence against the said Act, or of any other offence within the Territory punishable with imprisonment for three months or more, or is a person whose presence in the Territory would in the opinion of the Governor, acting after consultation with the Chief Immigration Officer, be undesirable and not conducive to public good, the Governor may make an Order requiring the person to leave the Territory within the time fixed by the Order and thereafter to remain out of the Territory.

‘Significant security breach’

Baynes was charged and convicted of causing a significant security breach that occurred during a planned police operation in November 2024.

The breach, which the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF) had said involved the unauthorised disclosure of sensitive information, compromised the success of the operation and raised serious concerns about the integrity of law enforcement protocols.

Meanwhile, Governor Daniel Pruce, in exercise of the power conferred on him by section 40(1)(b) and (c) of the Immigration and Passport Act (Revised Edition 2013), “do hereby order the said Earlando Earlan Baynes to leave the Territory of the Virgin Islands on or before the expiration of seven days from the date on which a copy of this Order is served on him by an immigration officer or a police officer, and thereafter to remain out of the Territory; And I do further order that the said Earlando Earlan Baynes be placed on board the first available ship or aircraft about to leave the Territory and that the said Eerlando Earlan Baynes may be detained until he is placed on a ship or an aircraft, unless he appeals to the Governor in writing against the making of this Order before the expiration of the said period of seven days.”