The Thomas Carroll Affair: A Journey through the Cottage Industry of Illegal Immigration

David Casavis wrote this book expose The Thomas Carroll Affair, a truly hidden gem, as modern today as yesterday. This story is about the enactment of the world of hidden illegal visa sales of immigration, different than crossing by foot over the border. Mr. Thomas Carroll, The United States Embassy Official, set up the first illicit financial affair as the Leader of Illegal American Visa Sales from affordable legal visa sales to award visas to the highest payers including hidden criminals to enter. This one of a kind book reflects media concerns today of free speech, justice to be served, controversy of innocent lives lost, the subject of race, illegal immigration and borders from a time when accounts were obtained directly when there was no  internet or social media. It reflects today’s political campaigning and speeches. I am giving this a 5 Star Rating to be liked as a 6-7 but not to mistaken for 3-4 because it entails local community stories available then as social media itself. Mr. Casavis draws starts the book casually with “But” and “And” people “gaffe” talk –positive and negative effects displayed moving between casual and proper talk; he interweaves tales with people’s lives with the historic facts. The book is easy to read with excellent organization, divisions, maps, photographs and abbreviations and glossaries to look up.  The book asks “Why?” for the justice and free speech not carried through as it reflects those who choose to and allowed to do wrongdoing will continue to do so, as criminals entrap themselves often unable to get out of their network, exampled with illegal visa dealers stealing from one another. There is the downfall of Thomas Carroll with a trap set with a former aspiring priest now in the embassy. The book’s story was in Guyana, South American, an extension of the Caribbean with those who left their “Bubble World” in the government to exploit some community felt “Trapped in Penury” between their labor and industry exchange of Aluminum, Diamonds and Gold to pay over the price for visas, depleted assets not able to return then “jumped visas” which started up a new cycle. Then there was “human smuggling”. The book included seduction betrayal which led to capture, death, violence to the “Why?” of a killing of a man of who surrendered his ways that day and prior as he went outside unarmed with a plea bargain. It is as today’s story, a bit different, but similar to the murder of Mr. George Floyd which rippled across our nation with protests for the lack of justice for the man not seen for who he was. The people in Guyana believed “Blackie” nicknamed was no longer a bandit, “died clean” went to Heaven because he gave up crime when he surrendered to be heard in court then murdered by an official with his voice not heard–so now they now feared. They laid down his body in the town square in front of The Statue of Cuffy who led the Guyana slave rebellion in 1763. The controversy may seem that the author compared two unlikely men “Blackie” and Thomas Carroll but described how the two may have been of different races, backgrounds and opportunities chose to became criminals, then got entrapped in a crime network unable to free themselves of. Mr. David Casavis and his publisher need the chance for this book to become a film and documentary combination to continue society’s ongoing need for unity. It describes lifestyles, seductions, citizenship, jobs, hobbies, networking, bribery, laundering, banking, pirated goods, lost files, hidden millions of dollars, citizen television shows, vigilante justice, night stalkers, deals, loopholes, debts, danger vs. safe zones, arsenals, spy wiring, secret codes, rendezvous, traveling, vigilantes and stress factors. The book is well-researched with interviews, statements, letters, and transcripts.  David Casavis, the author has had ongoing lecturing and travel. Please enjoy this innovative The Thomas Carroll Affair!

Demand creates supply, and in Guyana, you have a lot of good people stuck in a bad situation, and some not so good people who would gladly pay US$10,000 dollars for a US visa to get out of Guyana. One must question why people are so desperate to get out of Guyana if according to the Government the country is recording tremendous growth and prosperity. Maybe this refers to the elites who are prospering and who already have their exit strategies to North America in place.American Embassy worker Thomas Carroll sized up the situation and saw the opportunity to make a lot of money with the help of the local wheelers and dealers, this book describes the details and inside connections he used to meet the demand for visas.For a population that hovers somewhere between 700,000 to 800,000 Guyana seems to have a lot of desperate people who want to get out of Guyana. Guyana is a relatively large country for the size of population and has a lot of resources if distributed equally would make everyone rich.According to the book, Carroll made upwards of US$2 million dollars in one year of selling visas, which varied from US$2,500 at the start of his scheme to US$10,000 dollars towards the end. This would roughly equal to about 400 to 500 people that were sold visas in one year.The Chinese on the other hand have to pay $40,000 dollars in China to Snakeheads (smugglers) who are based in Guyana and use Guyana as a trampoline to get the smuggled Chinese to the US. The book also details how this is done. China has over a Billion people so one would expect some wanting to escape for better opportunities. China could deal with the loss of some of its human resources. Guyana on the other hand cannot at this juncture in their development.The author did a great job of intertwining unrelated stories to paint a relatively accurate picture of Guyana's current society. This book is highly recommended; it reads like a movie with diverse plots and could be classified as a spy novel.The book also details a not so flattering view of how US Embassy workers perceived people in Guyana and Guyana as a country. It was an assignment they did not want and it was an end of career posting for them. The US Embassy in Guyana is classified as the most notorious in the world, this does not portray Guyana in a positive light. On one hand the US Government is labeling their Embassy in Guyana as the most notorious in the World and on the other hand the Guyana Government is painting a picture of roses, tulips and great prosperity.So what makes you think the visa racket has stopped? Once there is a demand there will always be a supply. Some end of career embassy workers stuck in a dead end posting are easy targets for the local wheelers and dealers. Fresh new Embassy meat is always being sized up to see how pliable they are. Money, booze and sex never fails to do the trick for some.In the year 2000, an Italian American coworker on Liberty Ave in Queens New York mentioned that. "The bad Guyanese are coming now and they all drive fancy cars." I never really understood what he meant until much later when one could observe the drastic change in the area. One wonders how some were able to meet the criteria to obtain a US Visa, obviously it was paid for.

As a Guyanese I purchased this book as soon as it became available because the Thomas Carroll incident was a huge event in Guyana.I was put off by the numerous inaccuracies in the author's description of Guyana. This in turn causes me to question the accuracy of the other 'facts' in the book that I cannot verify. At times it seems that the author used various unrelated or barely related events to pad the book. Consequently it became a narration of various events that happened within a time frame rather than a coherent connected account of the Thomas Carroll Affair.The take away on the book is that 1) the US State Department was a breaurucratic mess during that time period that didn't serve the interests of the US or the host country which I have no reason to doubt. 2) Guyana is very low in importance to the US (true). 3) Guyana is very corrupt (true) 4) All Guyanese yearn to leave Guyana (not totally true)3.5 out of 4 is not bad but the devil is in the details.

By Bob W.An intricate yet fast-paced work. Well written: Vivid. Terse yet descriptive writing. At times riveting. An interesting “take” on the State Department bureaucracy. More than just a first-rate summer read. Good Maps.