Outside of Kansas there is a different life awaiting any that should choose it, but as Dorothy in the famed Wizard of Oz puts it, "There is no place like home, there is no place like home."
In this new year, it is time for incoming visitors to knock their shoes and return home, having given their word to the immigration officer upon entry to this country, their reason for travel and the intended time of stay. Once outside of Customs, visitors are treated as the very special guests they are, starting with warm embraces and family greetings. How then, does something so welcomed turn so bitter to family and country alike?
In Boston, ICE (US Immigration and Customs Division) arrested a Dominican Republic immigrant and fined him US$250,000 and three years in prison for fraudulent documents, after which he will be returned to his home country.In Wyoming, Gov Matthew Mead has asked Michigan Gov Rick Snyder to order a 94-year-old back to his home town, to stand trial for molesting children, while he served as a volunteer for 50 years at a Teton Valley Ranch Camp.
In the Bahamas, with a populace of less than 400,000, the Perry Christie government has embarked on an immigration reform campaign to "reaffirm the country's commitment to rule of law, due process and the international treaties on migration."In 2013 alone, the US ICE deported 368,644 immigrants, inclusive 646 Canadians, 255 Nigerians and 1,491 Caribbean nationals. In the UK for the same period, 50,741 foreign nationals were removed under their immigration law.
As a leader in the Caricom community, the Government cannot loose the reins on the laws that govern immigration, but rather, with conviction, enforce these laws for the stability of country, and promotion of public safety for citizens. There is need now for all to read the Constitution and not quickly judge the laws enforced by merely viewing the newspaper cover.
T&Ts Constitution has made provision for, and is not limited to, the natural occurrence of persons wishing to extend their stay, the grant of resident status and the comfort of citizenry by registration.
If an immigrant does the legal thing, the right thing, then there is no risk of deportation, and if he does the wrong thing then he is by no means ignorant of the consequence of deportation lurking at the door. Therefore it is the individual that makes the choice to be an illegal immigrant and that choice is made irrespective of age, race, nationality, religion, gender and colour.
To uphold immigration law is a step forward. It is a needed and welcomed stance on behalf of the Government, to do the right thing. It is a written rule of law and a courtesy that should be legally adhered to, if not for love of country, please, for respect of same.
V Claxton