While in Grand Bahama, Mr. Ingraham, who is also former prime minister, criticized the government over its treatment of certain immigrants ﾖ Haitians in particular.
He encouraged legal Haitian immigrants who were wrongfully detained by immigration authorities a few weeks ago before they were released, to sue the government over the incident.
“I encourage those legal residents in Eleuthera to sue the state, so that we can establish in law in this country what the rules are for any government [be it] mine, Perry Christieﾒs or anyone elseﾒs own, so that we can abide by it in the future because thatﾒs not the way to do business in this country.”
Nearly 200 immigrants were released from the Carmichael Road Detention Centre after they were picked up by police in Eleuthera and transported to New Providence for processing.
Immigration authorities later determined that most of them were legal.
Minister Gibson challenged Mr. Ingraham to tell immigrants if he becomes prime minister that he would settle the suit, along with the suits of all the persons who have been wrongly rounded up under all the administrations, including the FNMﾒs.
Mr. Ingraham said that the FNM got tough on immigration when it was elected and that during its last four to five years in office approximately 5,000 illegal Haitian immigrants were repatriated per year.
He indicated that at one point his government paid the Haitian government $100 per immigrant to cover the expenses of repatriation.
Mr. Ingraham said he recently met with Police Commissioner Paul Farquharson and his senior offices about the Eleuthera raid, and gave them a copy of the International Migrant/Alien Convention with portions he underlined as areas they should be mindful of at all times.
He also said the government needs to do its job and repatriate illegal immigrants humanely.
The former prime minister also commended Grand Bahama Human Rights Association President Fred Smith, an attorney, for helping migrants in their suit against the government.
But the minister accused the former prime minister of political mischief making and branded his comments irresponsible.
“I was trying to understand how we got to where we are with illegal immigrants, and I heard the comments by the leader of the opposition and I understood exactly why we got this problem because heﾒs not serious about immigration,” Minister Gibson said.
“Anytime you could encourage immigrants to be suing the government and you could talk about we should be doing it this way and that way and not coming up with any suggestionsﾅthey say one thing and they do the next.”
He said the leader of a political party should be careful about comments he makes and avoid being responsible.
“You usually hear those types of statements from persons lower down the ranks,” the minister said.
“If the leader said sue the government, the only thing left for him to do is say when I become prime minister I would settle the suit because I know you did the right thing in suing the government.”
Minister Gibson reiterated that the government is determined to be firm and fair in its approach to the illegal immigration problem.
“I would recommend individuals who are having difficulty really understanding what we are trying to achieve to meet with us,” he said.
“I welcome that opportunity to sit down and talk so that we can really get understanding from each other about what we are trying to achieve.”
By: Daphne McIntosh, The Bahama Journal
