The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

THE government’s “inconsistency” over its immigration policy will only prolong the issue of undocumented persons in this country, an issue that has been “left to fester for generations,” Democratic National Alliance Leader Branville McCartney said yesterday.

Mr McCartney also suggested that the actions of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell were being undermined by Prime Minister Perry Christie.

“Inconsistency can’t be the answer in times like these, certainty is needed,” the former minister of state for immigration said.

“He (Mr Mitchell) is trying, it is obvious because his talks and stance have changed and you can see he is really trying to fix the issue; that is commendable. But on the other hand the prime minister is singing a different tune.”

Mr Mitchell said earlier this week that he was confident the government enjoys the support of most Bahamians for its latest immigration restriction, which mandates that children of non-Bahamians have a student permit to attend school.

Last week, Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald said that the government is “resolute” over the student permit requirement for children. Mr Fitzgerald indicated that he supported immigration officials’ attempts to enforce the immigration laws of the country.

Mr McCartney said: “After all of that, you have the immigration minister saying how things will progress and then you hear rumblings of the prime minister saying completely different things.”

“(That is) inconsistency - Fred is saying one thing, Perry is saying another, all while the Bahamians are left to suffer.

“The prime minister has the last say. That is how it is now and that’s how it has always been. When I was the (junior) immigration minister I tried to work to resolve this matter, but the prime minister at the time (Hubert Ingraham) did what he thought was best.

“Mr Ingraham did what he wanted, often publicly because the buck stopped with him. He had, and Perry (Christie) has, all the power,” added Mr McCartney.

In March of 2010, when he resigned his post as junior immigration minister, Mr McCartney claimed that his hands were tied. He added that it had become impossible for him to execute his job to the best of his ability.

Mr McCartney said yesterday: “The sad part of this entire ordeal is that it all could have been avoided, but consecutive governments simply left it unchecked for far too long and now we are dealing with the results.

“Had we taken that immigration issue in hand generations ago, we would have avoided this entire ordeal, we would not be in this situation now. Governments of The Bahamas have for too long left pressing issues unattended and allowed them to fester. Look at crime, look at the dump or look at the economy; these are issues left to ruin.”

He added: “If they had been responsible from this issue first came about, we would not be scrapping to manage it now. We are throwing away resources to fight a battle that the government can’t agree on.”

According to Mr McCartney, The Bahamas will now have to view issues of legal status subjectively and on a case-by-case basis. He added that circumstances will now decide who is here legally or illegally and what is to be done with those who are left stateless.

He said: “I have no issue with our government requiring illegal kids to carry permits but what happens to kids that don’t qualify for these permits?

“Do we deport them? Does that mean that The Bahamas is now responsible for that second group, in spite of how they got here?

“You can’t just place them to the side and leave them stranded in the system for years. They will then grow up uneducated and would eventually become a strain on the public resources. Immigration has long caused strain on our country’s resources. In terms of healthcare, education and social services, its obvious that this problem strains those resources.”

On Monday, Marco City MP Greg Moss criticised the government’s new immigration policy, arguing that persons of Haitian descent who he called “undocumented Bahamians” may be deported under the restrictions. He added that children who are born in The Bahamas to foreign parents are entitled to be registered as citizens of the country when they become 18 years old.

Mr McCartney claimed that once again the PLP government is proving that they are unable to properly manage the country.

He said: “This inconsistency will continue to cause the Bahamian people to suffer.”