…but will crack down on undocumented

(Barbados Nation) Government will not be rounding up any illegal immigrants still in Barbados but will continue to crack down on undocumented CARICOM nationals involved in criminal activity.

This is the latest on the country’s new immigration policy, announced via a six-month amnesty last May and scheduled to end last Thursday.

Minister of State with responsibility for immigration, Senator Arni Walters, told the DAILY NATION on Monday that any crackdown following the deadline five days ago would be “on those who haven’t applied to have their status regularised and are caught in any illegal activity”.

“If you have a work permit it’s no problem, but we won’t go rounding up anybody,” he said in an interview on Monday.

The minister added that even those who had applied but had not qualified “can go to the Immigration Review Committee to see if they have reasonable grounds” in terms of their expectations of staying. This, he explained, would include matters relating to family, children born in Barbados to illegal immigrants, as well as issues of gainful employment.

Walters stressed that if there was indeed any “roundup”, it would target undocumented people who became involved in criminal activity.

Noting he did not have exact numbers of applications or estimates of people expected to be leaving Barbados, he said “a number of people (had) left on their own in late December”, because many had recognised they would have difficulty remaining in Barbados undocumented.

The senator also promised that Government would seek Barbadians’ views on the issue and the Green Paper on immigration via a series of town hall meetings from January 14.

“That will be an opportunity for people to look in some broad way at the whole immigration policy,” he said, adding this would involve matters relating to legislation and the offspring of illegal immigrants.

Walters reiterated that Government was not targeting any particular nationality since there were a number of Jamaicans, Trinidadians, Vincentians and Guyanese residing here illegally, including people who had arrived here under CARICOM status but had overstayed their allotted time.

He also pointed to “a couple thousand applications in the Immigration Department on which nothing was done prior to the policy being put in place”; noting that these were now being processed.

“The policy was one that looked at undocumented CARICOM nationals, so anyone who is documented should have no fear, and this includes people who have been visiting for years and not breaching their times.”

Prime Minister David Thompson officially notified undocumented Caribbean nationals last May 5, that Government would be fulfilling its pledge to address the issue of immigration and overcrowding.