The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

ILLEGAL immigration continues to be a hot topic in the Bahamas and all three major political parties have released extensive plans to combat the problem.

Almost 2,000 illegal immigrants were repatriated in 2011, costing the government $26,000 per flight - for a total of nearly $1 million in repatriation fees.

The majority of the immigrants were Haitian.

The illegal immigration issue is being brought to the forefront once again this election season with the FNM, PLP and DNA all using it as a key part of their campaigns in the run-up to May 7.

In the FNM's Manifesto 2012, the party said if re-elected, it would work to reduce the number of illegal immigrants in the country by conducting regular and routine detention and repatriation exercises; extending surveillance of the national borders through an expanded Defence Force presence in Grand Bahama, Abaco and Inagua; and instituting a 24-hour hotline for information on activity related to illegal immigration.

The FNM also promises to enhance the surveillance capacity of the Defence Force, continue the regularisation of long-term residents and persons born in the Bahamas to non-Bahamian parents; and expedite the naturalisation and/or registration of children born abroad to Bahamian women married to foreigners.

The Manifesto also said the FNM will enhance the Defence force with 11 new vessels, increase the manpower on the force by 235 enlisted men and women, and dredge the harbours at the Inagua and Coral Harbour bases to accommodate the expanded fleet.

In the PLP's 'Charter for Governance', the opposition promises to "fix a broken system" by investing more money into the Defence force and enacting stiffer penalties for Bahamians who harbour illegal immigrants.

Some of the points outlined include: a substantial increase in air and border patrols, tougher penalties for Bahamian employers who hire illegal immigrants, a new test for all people applying for permanent residency or citizenship in the Bahamas, and the stationing of a Bahamian labour officer in Haiti to organise the lawful entry of Haitian labour into the Bahamas.

The PLP also promises to grant time-limited work permits for jobs Bahamians are unwilling to do, offer immigrants who have been in the country for more than 20 years an opportunity to be evaluated for permanent residency, and engage the US government and International Organisation for Migration in the interdiction, settlement and repatriation of immigrants.

Leader of the DNA Branville McCartney, who is a former Minister of Immigration, said his party will create an immigration plan that will be respectful of all people, but will adhere to the principle that Bahamians should come first.

In their "Vision", the DNA promises to put to the Bahamian people by way of a referendum, the question of whether illegal immigrants coming to the Bahamas after 2012 and children born to illegals in 2012, should have the right to apply for citizenship.

The party also promises to review the status of immigrants that have been in the country a long time with a view to regularisation, move with haste to consider the applications of persons entitled to apply for residency and citizenship, and move to regularise the status of children born abroad to Bahamian women by way of a referendum.