The following is a statement by Fred Smith, QC, Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA) president:
The Grand Bahama Human Rights
Association cries shame on the Christie administration as a whole, and on
Minister of Immigration Fred Mitchell in particular, for attempting to give
their inhumane, immoral and illegal immigration enforcement policy the veneer
of legitimacy by forcing a bill through Parliament, where they enjoy a
substantial majority.
In the first instance, the tactics
currently employed by immigration officers to terrorize the Haitian-Bahamian
community constitute clear violations of the Bahamas Constitution, the supreme
law of the land.
Indiscriminate roundups and
roadblocks are unconstitutional; the requirement that immigrants carry ID at
all times is unconstitutional; detention without bail and in the absence of
criminal charges is unconstitutional; and deportation without conviction by a
court of law is unconstitutional. The government simply cannot retroactively
legitimize such actions.
In addition, every child of
Haitian parents born in this country has a legal right to apply for Bahamian
citizenship at the age of 18, if they have lived in this country for 10 years
prior to their application. Removing them from this country before their 18th
birthday deprives them this right and is therefore illegal.
Deporting those who have submitted
a proper application, but have been waiting for years without word from the
government is a totally unconscionable practice. This is to say nothing of the
moral outrage of snatching young children from their classrooms, imprisoning
them without charge, then sending them to a poverty-stricken country of which
they have no knowledge or experience.
As Mitchell and his colleagues are
fully aware, the very act of bringing legislation in an effort to legitimate a
policy already in place for more than a month, is a tacit admission that the
Immigration Department has thus far acted illegally. As such, they risk
exposing the government to court action by the hundreds if not thousands of
individuals who have been harmed, terrorized or otherwise adversely affected by
these draconian procedures.
The government is hereby
forewarned that any Act passed by Parliament which seeks to legitimate the
tactics used by the Immigration Department since November 1 will be subject to
an aggressive constitutional challenge in the courts by the GBHRA.
I also invite all those who have
been adversely impacted by the policy to contact me as soon as possible with a
view to joining their names to a class action lawsuit, to be filed in due
course.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his/her
private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of
TheBahamasWeekly.com
