Here we go again. According to press reports; "without warning, two uniformed men and one plain-clothes officer marched into the water park (at Atlantis) through a back gate, found the American citizen in the middle of a guest interaction with sea lions, and demanded that she produce her passport." (The Tribune April 24, 2013)
When she told them she didn't have it in her possession the officers reportedly put her in a government car and drove off.
It seems an officer at the immigration department was told she was working at Atlantis without a work permit.
Turns out that the permit was denied in December, but was under appeal and this gives the person the right to continue working until a decision is made.
When the officers found this out, they released the woman from custody.
Surely a phone call to the head of Atlantis Human Resources department or even the general manager asking for clarification of the "complaint" would have been a better approach?
Atlantis is the largest private sector employer in the country and does
not have a reputation for breaking the law. So a modicum of respect is
their due. If the hotel did not cooperate the department of immigration has every right to enforce the law.
Of course Mr. Fred Mitchell (PLP), Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration informed the press that; "the government will make no apologies for its commitment to Bahamianization." (The Nassau Guardian April 24, 2013)
I haven't heard or read that anyone asked him to apologise for their Bahamiansation policy, although it is dubious, but surely he can apologise for an apparent breach of the law by the Immigration Department?
It amazes me how we can carry out a "raid" like this in an instant, but can't process the requisite paperwork in a timely fashion.
Sometimes it's as if we have no brought-upsy. But when the Minister and the govenrment he serves constantly stirs the proverbial pot against businesses and foreign workers we should expect behaviour like this from the departments under his control.
Way to go Fidel ! What a stupid thing to do.Here you have a company employing how many Bahamians with one huge Investment & they do what ? They have to be crazy man,just crazy fools.I am in shock in one sense & in another not surprised by the PLP.How many sea lion trainers do we have here anyway ? Why does our great Immigration department not do that to all the Illegals on Carmichael road etc stealing electricity which by the way the FNM did nothing about that either.My goodness third world is far to advanced for us,what a bunch of bloomin’ idiots.I am just sick of the amount of stupid supposedly educated people we have here,seems like they were educated in Cuba.
So Raid the Shanty towns and rid all the Haitians and Jamaican, but leave the high scale illegals alone because they are Kerzner employees and Americans? The US Customs and Border Control would have done the same. This person should have had the documents in posession.
Thanks for visiting Mr. Fernander.
No one is suggesting that the modus operandi with shanty towns or illegal immigrants is correct.
The point is, under Bahamian law, she was/is entitled to be there.
Also, do you carry your passport with you?
When I travel I lock mine in the safe.
We still operate under the Rule of Law, not the Rule of Man.
Mixing illegal immigrants with legal immigrants/workers attempts to cloud the matter.
Mr.Fernander,lets have some common sense now.If the person had no papers don’t you think it could have been handled better that doing in in front of the guests.Also the fact that Atlantis employes a lot of Bahamians should count for some tact.I don’t care who is here illegally,they should be removed from our country.Immigration will do something stupid like that but leave the total mess & not touch it.Do you carry your passport everywhere you go ?
These incidents have happened before only the tour company in question that was Japanese owned left the country and moved their ground operations to Mexico.. As a result the company does not book Japaneses visitors to our shores anymore.. Our lost 8,000 plus Japanese visitors is now Mexico’s gain.. We can only thank misguided government policies for this foolish blunder.. Oh and by the way, all the company’s Japanese staff were approved holders of Bahamian issued work permits and compliant with our laws with the exception of the usual four to six month delays on permit renewal applications.. You can bet that this does not happen in Mexico which today has become a prime Japanese visitor destination..
My God where is the common sense in this country ???