The government should do more to protect and help foreign nationals who have become integrated into Bahamian society, Marco City MP Gregory Moss said.
Moss was asked his views on the government's new immigration policy.
During a recent interview with NB12, the outspoken MP said the policy should go further to protect those who have contributed to The Bahamas.
"Most Bahamians do not accept the idea that such persons should ever have citizenship," he said. "That has been my experience.
"Most Bahamians do accept the idea that the adults falling within that category should be regularized, should have the right to work and reside so as to protect them from being the victims of unscrupulous persons within our country who threaten them because of their insecure status.
"I look forward to when we get to the point, and I hope it's sooner rather than later, of articulating a policy which allows for the transitioning of persons who have been here and who are integrated into our societies; not new arrivals, not new immigrants, but persons who by and large culturally, nationally and for a long period of time would have been integrated into our country and their children to be regularized in some way."
The new policy, which took effect November 1, requires all non-Bahamians to have passports of their nationalities and evidence that they have permission to live and work in the country.
As part of the policy, the Department of Immigration will not issue certificates of identity to non-nationals born in The Bahamas.
The department also will not accept first-time applications for residence or work permits from those who have no legal status in The Bahamas.
Though the government has said that the policy is not aimed at any particular nationality, the majority of people picked up have been Haitians, according to data from immigration officials.
The immigration checks have also drawn the ire of a local human activist group, the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association, which alleges that some foreign nationals have been unfairly detained, abused and had their civil rights violated.
GBHRA President Fred Smith has described the checks as "unnecessary" and a mechanism only to "strike terror" into the population.

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