Mixed views in T&T on illegal migrants

(Trinidad Express) Illegal immigrants can have positive and negative impacts on the country’s economy, heads of local business groups have said.
On Tuesday, the National Security Ministry released data which showed there are 110,012 illegal immigrants currently residing in Trinidad and Tobago with the majority coming from Guyana, Venezuela and Jamaica.
Speaking to the Express yesterday, president of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Hugh Howard said while the immigrants’ presence here may be a plus for businesses, the “disadvantages will outweigh the narrow advantages”.
“Immigrants, legal or illegal, once they are living in this country, they will have needs of certain goods and services so they will be purchasing goods and services. It’s likely that it could be a plus because you have a greater demand for your goods and services,” he said.
But on the flipside, he said if these immigrants were enjoying the country’s social amenities and were not making any contribution, like paying for electricity and water, then this was bad for the business sector and the country’s economy.
He disagreed that the cheap labour provided by some illegals had a positive impact on business.
“That to me is a short-sighted view,” Howard said.
He said he did not see the deportation of these immigrants as having a negative impact on local businesses.
But Downtown Owners’ and Merchants Association (DOMA) president Gregory Aboud said while he agreed with National Security Minister Gary Griffith that people who wish to stay here should do so legally, he did not see why the country should continue to adopt immigration laws which “deny hardworking citizens of Jamaica and other countries the opportunity to contribute towards the development of Trinidad and Tobago”.
He said yesterday: “We have to accept that we have done ourselves a disservice at a time when we have been enjoying an economic boom, to have been involved for the last 20 years in an extreme escalation of giveaways particularly in the employment relief programmes. None can deny that we have been paying $100 to do $10 worth of work, none can deny that we have been paying for eight hours work and getting one hour and that has had a very negative impact on our country. At the very same time, there has been a downturn in the economic fortunes of many of our Caribbean neighbours.”
“While we are reserved in our views that strict immigration laws should be applied to extraneous visitors from the Asian and African continents we do not hold that view about our Caribbean immigrant neighbours. In particular, we know from the history of Port of Spain that in the 1950s and 1960s a great part of this country was built by Vincentians and Grenadians.”
Aboud added: “What we would like to see the Minister do, apart from trying to find ways to make sure immigration is legal, is to consider a rewrite of the Immigration laws as they relates to Caricom citizens. It is high time for us to recognise the value and the contribution which many of our Caribbean neighbours can make to the development of T&T.”