GRAND BAHAMA HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION STATEMENT
by Fred Smith, QC
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.

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