BAHAMAS  - Proposed US
immigration reforms could have positive implications not only for
Caribbean nationals living in the United States, but also for countries
of the region, asserted a former cabinet minister in the Bahamas.      

"The
reforms that offer a pathway to citizenship might be applicable to
thousands of Caribbean nationals who have spent years living and working
in the US and might be deemed entitled to regularization as citizens,"
said economist Zhivargo Laing.

Laing surmised "the not
insignificant Caribbean diaspora in the US, estimated at more than 20
million, can influence US policymakers to take account of their
realities in their reform efforts."