The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

One of the great national debates which will roll out in 2018 will be over our immigration and migration policies for our wonderful nation, the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

Until a few decades ago, we did not have a serious problem with illegal immigration and migration. The majority of persons who fell into those categories were, as many of them are today, seeking economic advantages.

By the same token, the vast majority of them are of Haitian heritage. This is not to suggest that we only have Haitian immigrants and migrants as they come in all nationalities, howbeit in much smaller numbers.

It is to be conceded that no administration, right up to this juncture, has ever really addressed immigration and migration logically and in a sane manner.

Whatever the approaches would have been they were, in the main, ad hoc and of a band aid sort of way... no permanent public policy but ones which suited the moment.

During the Contract Days, many able bodied Bahamian males migrated to the USA for working purposes. The Second World War was also a factor which encouraged able bodied Bahamian males to migrate to the USA; the UK; Canada and Jamaica for military services.

In many cases, this opened the door, so to speak, to the flow of immigrants and the passage of migrants, many of whom eventually remained in our country.

Those individuals, back in those days, filled the void which was left for manual and agricultural labour. They would have gained employment mostly in those areas of the economy where the average Bahamian, traditionally, never wanted to work.

This, sadly, is still the case. Many Bahamians, who have absolutely no marketable job skills and are illiterate, would prefer to sit on the wall or blocks all day and night before he takes on a “Haitian” job.

We have a problem with this phenomenon in that manual labour is required in certain sectors of the economy which must be filled by individuals regardless of nationality.

As a trained lawyer, I am the first to agree that all immigration and migration should be legal; transparent and accountable. No nation that cannot control its borders can long survive. It is as simple as that.

In seeking to control our national borders, however, we must follow the law of the land; observe so-called Christian principles and demonstrate a transparent respect for Human Rights. Yes, there are some hysterical Bahamians who simply say: “Lock them all up and deport them as quickly as possible”.

To the credit of the Minnis led administration, we now see some starts and fits to devise a sane and logical approach to immigration and migration of the illegal sort.

This is to be commended (and I am a NEW PLP) regardless of politics. The ‘OLD’ PLP had multiple opportunities to do something concrete but all they did, under the bumbling carriage of former Minister Frederick Audley Mitchell, was to continuously kick the can down the road. Brent Symonette, during his first stint with Immigration apparently did not pay too much attention to this aspect of his portfolio.

In my considered view he was a disaster, along with his then Minister of State, Branville McCartney.

The newly minted Director of Immigration, Mr Clarence Russell, formerly Chief Passport Officer, is the best thing to have occurred up at Immigration since Loftus Roker held sway.

Mr Russell is the consummate civil servant and a no nonsense individual. More importantly, to me at least, is that he is a professed Christian.

Yes, Christian principles do have a role to play in the implementation of public policy initiatives.

The first order of business must be to address the tens of thousands of back logged applications for status for persons actually born and raised in The Bahamas. Our ‘Dreamers’ deserve an opportunity to be finally embraced by the nation.

The next step would be for the Minnis led administration to set up an Immigration Court to swiftly deal with illegals who are apprehended. This cock-eyed policy of arresting such individuals and detaining them, without benefit of a court hearing, is illegal and unconstitutional in the extreme. I am saddened that legal eagles like the Hon Frederick Smith, QC, is not pushing this narrative.

The Bahamas, believe it or not, needs a mix of foreign manual labourers and high technological entrepreneurs. There is no need to ‘fear’ these type of people once they come in through the front door. Yes, what is now needed, more than ever before, is a logical and sane approach to immigration and migration. To God then, in all things, be the glory.

ORTLAND H. BODIE, JR.

Nassau,

January 6, 2018.