Antigua minister calls for crackdown on illegal aliens

ST JOHN’S — Minister of National Security Labour Dr Errol Cort has called for a clamp down on illegal aliens working in various sectors of the economy.

Cort said the Labour Department must play its role in ensuring that residents with the legal right to work on island are not disadvantaged by immigrants who skirt the law.

He pinpointed the construction sector as a particular area of concern in this regard.

“I continue to receive complaints in respect of persons working illegally, primarily at various construction sites. These are issues that the Labour Department will have to be very aggressive to ensure that persons who are working out there, especially in those critical sectors, are persons who are lawfully entitled to work,” Cort said.

The minister of labour said the department needs to ensure that persons have the requisite documentation to allow them to be legally involved in gainful employment.

“Where it is found where those individuals are not lawfully authorised to engage in employment, the appropriate action needs to be taken in that regard,” Dr Cort said. (Antigua Observer)

(Source - http://news.barbadostoday.bb/barticlenew.php?ptitle=Antigua%20minister%20calls%20for%20crackdown%20on%20illegal%20aliens&article=13415)

Caribbean islands crack down on illegal immigrants

Thursday January 12 2012 Boston Sun

TOA BAJA, Puerto Rico – First, riot police raided the slum with batons and pepper spray. Then authorities shut off the water and electricity. With an eviction order pending in the courts, police stand sentry outside the shacks belonging mostly to Dominican migrants.

The Puerto Rican government says it's trying to clear a dangerous flood zone in Villas del Sol, a shantytown just west of the capital of San Juan. But residents say the show of force targets foreign laborers as Puerto Rico's unemployment rate tops 16 percent.

As jobs vanish in the global financial crisis, Caribbean governments are cracking down on undocumented migrants seeking work. The increased enforcement highlights deep economic divisions in a region where poor Dominicans, Haitians and Jamaicans seek better lives on more affluent islands such as the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbados.

And it's causing rifts among island governments, with some accusing others of violating the cooperation the region is trying to build.

"They want to scare us away," said Bianely Gonzalez, 32, a Dominican who came to Puerto Rico a decade ago on a homemade wooden boat and lives in a one-room, cinderblock home.

In the U.S. Caribbean territories and Florida, which are the biggest immigrant draw, deportations have nearly doubled from 7,176 in fiscal year 2006 to 13,622 last year.

The jump comes from a nationwide U.S. campaign to deport illegal immigrants with outstanding criminal warrants, said Ivan Ortiz, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Juan.

He agreed that enforcement is partly due to the softening American economy, but wouldn't elaborate.

Other islands couldn't provide similar deportation numbers. But the financial crisis has pummeled the islands' tourism-dependent economies, forcing hotels to close or cut back on staff. Tourist visits this year are down 9 percent in Barbados, 13 percent in the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda and 15 percent in the Bahamas, according to statistics from the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

Read full article here.

Shanique Myrie sues Barbadian Government

Posted on 07 January 2012 by Bajan Sun Online
THE JAMAICAN woman who is accusing Barbadian officials of cruel and vulgar cavity search at the Grantley Adams International Airport on March 14 last year has filed a suit in the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
The case, which is said to be the first of its kind before the CCJ, will be asking the court to determine a critical issue which will be used as a precedent.
Shanique Myrie, 22, who is being represented by the law firm HyltonBrown is asking the court, in the suit filed yesterday, to determine what is the minimum standard of treatment to be given to CARICOM nationals moving within the region under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and its goal of hassle-free travel.
Degrading treatment
Myrie is alleging that degrading treatment was meted out to her at the hands of Barbadian border officials at the airport.
The law firm had allowed sufficient time for both the Jamaican and the Barbadian governments to attempt to settle the issue. When a settlement was not reached, the firm obtained leave from the Jamaican Government to file the action. The firm, before filing the suit, had made attempts to engage the Barbadian government in discussions but to no avail.
Jamaican attorneys-at-law Anthony Hylton and Michelle Brown from the firm will be arguing the case for Myrie.
In a news release issued yesterday, the law firm disclosed that the case would set the precedent for how persons move throughout the region.

Are immigrants taking jobs from British youth or not?

THREE reports this week have presented three different views on whether there is a link between immigration and unemployment in Britain. A report by Migrationwatch suggested there was a correlation between the influx of workers from Eastern Europe since 2004 and a rise in UK youth unemployment. This was followed by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research report which said there was no significant impact from immigration on jobless benefit claimants. Then a Home Office-commissioned Migration Advisory Committee (Mac) report found an "association" between non-EU immigration and job losses among those born in Britain. So who is right?

Comparing apples and oranges

It's possible they are all right, says Danny Shaw on BBC News. They all looked at slightly different things. The Mac report is “the most persuasive” because it draws on in-depth analysis and research and “it just makes sense”. It argues the effects of non-EU migration are most keenly felt in the economic bad times, when vacancies are scarce, and in the short-term, before the labour market has time to adjust.

Why not link economic growth to penis size?

You could be forgiven for thinking that Migrationwatch’s new report was a smoking gun against immigration, says Sam Bowman in The Spectator. But a closer look quickly reveals “how implausible these claims are”. The report centres on a comparison of rising youth unemployment and rising immigration.

Read full article here.

Diaspora, Migration and Development in the Caribbean by Keith Nurse

Although this paper was written in 2004, its content is still relevant and useful for those researching Caribbean migration. The paper was published by FOCAL, the Canadian Foundation for the Americas.


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The paper examines the developmental impact of the growth of the diasporic economy on Caribbean
territories like Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and the Anglophone Caribbean. It focuses on issues like
remittances, diasporic exports, brain drain, as well as the new health and security risks associated with
migration and mobile populations. The key areas of benefit and cost are evaluated and an assessment is
given of emerging challenges and opportunities. The paper concludes that the policy dialogue should
move beyond the remittances issue to take into account wider developmental concerns.

Go to this link for the full paper: http://www.focal.ca/pdf/migration_Nurse_diaspora%20migration%20development%20Caribbean_September%202004_FPP-04-6.pdf

Senegalese Immigrants murdered in Florence

A gunman opened fire in the southern Italian city of Florence, killing two Senegalese immigrants and wounding another two.

The gunman has been linked to a far-right group, which has disassociated itself from the killings.

Correspondents say Florence is considered one of Italy's calmer and more tolerant cities.

A Senegalese man who lives and works in Florence tells the BBC how he feels following the attack.

The shooting on Tuesday - when two of our Senegalese brothers were killed and another two wounded - has come as a shock to all of us and we are all very scared.


The shooting has shocked Africans in Florence
Senegalese traders are often the victims of racial abuse.

On the streets, people will call them names, accuse them of "stealing" the jobs of Italians and will tell them to go home.

My own impression is that the abuse has increased in recent years because of the economic crisis in Italy. People are more worried about jobs and are taking out their anger on Africans.

Continue reading the main story
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Start Quote

People have come up to us on the streets to sympathise and to show solidarity”

But I don't know why the gunman opened fire, killing the two vendors. Was it racial or was there another motive? We will find out once there is a thorough investigation.

I don't remember such a gun attack on Africans in the 10 years that I have been here - and it does make us all feel alienated and threatened. We are a fairly large community of Senegalese and Africans here.

Fortunately, most Italians have condemned the shooting and there is a national outpouring of grief. Here in Florence, people have come up to us on the streets to sympathise and to show solidarity.

I did not know the two traders who were killed by the gunman, but I used to see them around - selling goods on pavements or at social and religious gatherings of the Senegalese community.

Most Senegalese people who come to Italy start life as street traders. They buy goods from Chinese-owned shops and sell them on the streets.

'Anxious'
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote

How can he a person who is born and brought up in Italy not qualify for Italian citizenship?”

It's what I also did when I first came to Italy 10 years ago. I came here legally, but did not have the necessary documents to work.

When I finally got them, I got a job as a factory worker.

Now, I am a foreman at the factory. It is good to have a stable job and income, making it easier to support my family.

But it is very difficult to become an Italian national.

My son, who is just one year old, was born in Italy, but he is still regarded as a Senegalese citizen.

This is very unfortunate. How can he a person who is born and brought up in Italy not qualify for Italian citizenship? How can social integration become easier when we are treated like foreigners?

I don't know whether my son has a future here - and I have become more anxious after what happened on Tuesday.

It may be better for him to go and live in Senegal, but we'll see what happens."

Original story here at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16177877

Right now, our thoughts are with the families of the two people killed. Their bodies are going to be taken to Senegal for burial. I don't think there is a cemetery for Muslims in Florence.

Alabama parents prepare for the worst: separation from their kids

Hundreds of parents in Alabama who fear being rounded up at any time and jailed or deported under the state's draconian new immigration law are making legal arrangements to have their children placed in the care of relatives or friends.

Lawyers working with Hispanic communities throughout Alabama report a huge surge in recent days in approaches from Hispanic families so desperate about the threat posed by the new law that they are preparing for the worst: sudden separation from their own children. They are drawing up power of attorney letters – documents usually applied to property or business assets, but in Alabama almost exclusively now used for the safe keeping of children.

"This is a real human rights crisis," said Linton Joaquin of the National Immigration Law Center. "There's widespread panic, and though parents don't want to abandon their children they are seeking guardianships for them."

Shay Farley, legal director of a collective of Alabama lawyers called Appleseed, says they have already drawn up more than 200 power of attorney papers in just one town, Tuscaloosa. A similar clamour for legal help is reported across the state.

Read full article here.

An example of how migration might kick-start growth - for the Greeks

The Price of Austerity (BBC World Service)
CGD Experts

Michael Clemens

Oct 11, 2011


Senior fellow Michael Clemens was interviewed by the BBC World Service on the economic benefits of migration.
From the interview
The voices of ordinary Greeks - those struggling to hold things together in these difficult times - are not normally heard.
Coverage of Greece's economic problems is all too often dominated by images of ferocious riots and striking workers.
There is no question that wave after wave of wage-cuts and tax rises have generated a lot of anger, but the truth is that most Greeks haven't taken to the streets.
So, as the austerity measures bite ever deeper, how are these people being affected? The BBC's Europe Business Correspondent Nigel Cassidy reports from Athens.
Plus, what Greece and the other economies of the eurozone really need is economic growth to raise incomes and tax revenues and - the hope is - to begin to erode away those vast deficits.
Unfortunately most are experiencing - at best - stagnation.
So what could kick start growth? A recent survey by the American economist Michael Clemens of the Centre for Global Development suggests one answer could be migration. He concludes that the economic gains from freer migration would dwarf the gains from, say, freer trade - so long as the benefits to the migrants are included.
Justin Rowlatt asked him why migration can bring such big economic benefits.

Listen to it here at the link below.

See source

Diasporic Tourism & Investment in the Caribbean

The survey, conducted by the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law, Policy and Services (SRC) of the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies, discovered some very interesting findings regarding the economic contribution of the Caribbean diaspora to the region's leading industry.

"We are confident that this report will put into perspective in a tangible way what the impact of the diaspora is. All these times it has been conjecture, we know the numbers are there, but have not been able to qualify or quantify the impact," said Irwin Clare, managing director, Caribbean Immigrant Services, New York.

"This should direct the resources, not just dollars and cents, but the full gamut of how you market and sell to this community," he argued, adding that there has been no clear marketing strategy for this community.

To see more on this report visit:
http://www.shridathramphalcentre.org/images/stories/news/2011/CTO_Caribbean_Week_Diaspora_Forum_DT_KEY_FINDINGS3.pdf

Guild Week hosts cultural event to eliminate rift between local and non-national students at UWI, Cave Hill

SAT, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011 - 12:00 AM. Barbados Nation Newspaper

THE TALENT was as diverse as the nationalities of the students when the inaugural Carimagination Day took place at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies recently.

The event, one of the activities of Guild Week, took place in an intimate setting where the stage was set for a number of local artistes to express their creativity through the arts.

Humanities and Education representative Donnya Piggott said the aim of the event was to eliminate the rift between local and non-national students, one of the mandates of the university’s guild.

Piggott, who organised the event, added: “We don’t promote Barbadian talent here and through this event we also wanted to do that.

“The university has been lacking culture and so we decided to cut down on the fetes and increase cultural activities.”

As a result, numerous spoken-word pieces were performed by both local and non-national guest artistes, including Christina Katrina; Daveny Ellis; Sonia, who is a student from Toronto; Sam Pollard, Simply L and social commentator Adrian Greene, who highlighted a variety of issues stemming from political, economic and social concerns.

The delivery of the performances grabbed and kept the attention of the audience, which consisted mainly of regional students.

British Virgin Islands student Jevaughn Rhymer praised organizers for a good show but suggested “it should be more open to performances and not a set programme”.

Anthony Turton, 28, said the event was the first he had ever attended with “this kind of local talent and it was good”.

“The show was well organized and it exposed Barbadian talent and that is good for the young artistes. I believe more of these shows should be held to heighten the awareness of the public to these artistes,” Turton said.

Other guest performances were delivered by Kid Site, who revisited a number of his classics, Cave Hill Music Society, Toni Dyall, Marcus Miles, Matthew Allman, AzMan and Sunrokk, all of whom brought the curtain down on a commendable note. (TD)

We can and must speak up.

By Anthony Morgan

A Jamaican who was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Anthony Morgan is a Caribbean law student at McGill University, Faculty of Law. He enjoys thinking and writing about Caribbean international relations, relating specifically to diaspora affairs, regional integration, international trade and Haiti-Caricom relations.

My name is Anthony Morgan, I am a 25-year-old Jamaican, born and raised in Toronto, Canada. I am currently in my final year of law school at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. I will begin by sharing with you a bit about who I am, so that I can best explain how my identity as a diaspora citizen has affected my reaction to a very intolerable incident I experienced on a Montreal university campus on September 14, 2011.

First, some background. Before the summer of 2007 I was just another Black Canadian. During that summer, however, I was fundamentally transformed into a Caribbean-Canadian Diaspora Citizen. This came as a result of my participation in Grace Kennedy’s Jamaican Birthright Programme (GKJBP). The GKJBP is a world-class cultural and professional internship for students of Jamaican heritage who were born and living in the US, UK and Canada. For this programme, students from the diaspora are chosen to go live and work in Kingston, Jamaica to boost their professional skills and experience, and also help them more deeply connect with their Jamaican roots and culture.
Before taking part in the GKJBP, I was merely incidentally Jamaican, mostly identifying at a superficial level through our music, food and manners of worship. My amazing birthright experience, however, transformed me into not only a Jamaican nationalist but also a Caribbean regionalist.

As a result of my participation in the GKJBP, I have become committed to a journey of learning ever more about Jamaica and the Caribbean, particularly in relation to our history, as well as our current position in the global arena of geopolitics, trade and development. This journey has also caused me to become increasingly influenced by a Caribbean intellectual heritage emanating from the thoughts, lives and works of individuals such as Marcus Garvey, Walter Rodney, CLR James, Eric Williams, George Beckford, Lloyd Best and contemporaries, such as Kari Levitt, Norman Girvan, Anthony Bogues and Brian Meeks.

Read full article here.

China to support the Caribbean - David Jessop

By David Jessop

News Americas, LONDON, England, Fri. Sept. 23, 2011: Two separate developments in the last week, both involving China, demonstrates the fundamental ways in which international relationships are changing.

The first involved China subtly suggesting that it might provide financial support for Eurozone economies in difficulty. The second was the announcement at the opening of the Third China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum in Port of Spain that Beijing would make available over US$1billion in loans and other assistance for Caribbean economic development projects.

In Europe many economies are in trouble. Greece, Italy, Spain Portugal, Ireland and United Kingdom have had to take drastic action to address high levels of debt and low growth. However, the markets have not been convinced that some of the Governments concerned will be able to institute the tough austerity measures they have announced. This is particularly so in the case of Greece and Italy where special pleading by powerful interest groups has caused Government to back track on measures already announced, creating uncertainty about whether the nations concerned might default.

As these nations are within the Eurozone, this has had the effect of raising questions about the whole European integration process. In economically strong and fiscally correct nations at the heart of the Eurozone like Germany, domestic political pressure is making nations reluctant to provide further financial support for those EU states that seem incapable of bringing their economies under control. Somewhat over simplified, the effect is that if economically strong nations are unwilling to bail out weak Eurozone economies, the Eurozone, and by extension the European Union, is unlikely to survive in its present form.

Read full article here.

Are the provisions for free movement under the treaty discriminatory?

Free labour movement
Dennis De Peiza

2011-08-31

The advent of the free movement of labour under the Caribbean Single Market and Economy brought great hope for nationals of member states, as they welcomed and embraced the opportunity to traverse the region in search of employment opportunities.

It is clear that there was a good intention on the part of heads of government to give licence to the movement of labour as a means of positioning the region to strengthen and develop its economic potential.

All indicators point to the fact that this could be achieved through the sharing and utilising of skills and talents of the region’s human resources. This apparently holds true, given the fact that the free movement of persons is said to underpin all other key pillars of the CSME, except the free movement of goods.

Article 45 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas states: “Member states commit themselves to the goal to the free movement of their nationals within the community.” This, to all intents and purposes, seems to be ideal, but it is questionable whether the goal is being achieved.

The movement of people is enshrined in articles 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 45 and 46 of Chapter Three of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. As it stands, the unrestricted movement is limited to university graduates, media workers, sports persons, artistes and musicians.

The free movement of skills and labour meant that work permits were eliminated. With this being the case, it can be argued that there would have been a relaxing of the regulatory procedures to facilitate the ease of movement. It is however understandable why there is yet the need to have some regulatory mechanism (s) in place to guard against those who have malicious and illegal intentions.

Read full article here.

Travelling Show Project / Proyecto Zapato Viajero

We have all been historically affected by migration and each in different ways. With this project I invite people to share their
shoes as statements of where they have been and where they are going thus sharing movement and walking in each
other's footsteps...

Hemos sido históricamente afectados por la migración. Con este proyecto invito a la gente a compartir sus zapatos
como declaraciones de donde ellos han sido y donde ellos van así compartiendo el movimiento y andando en los
pasos de cada uno...


http://zapatoviajero-travellingshoe.blogspot.com/2011/09/arriving-at-venezuela.html

A documentary series on an important Caribbean man - Dr. Eric Williams by Mariel Brown

Inward Hunger: The Story of Eric Williams is a pioneering documentary series that reveals Eric Williams in unprecedented breadth and depth, in the context of the history, society, region and world that shaped him; the forces to which he at times succumbed, and those he fought to change.
Dr Eric Eustace Williams is a complex and controversial Caribbean figure best known for leading Trinidad and Tobago to Independence in 1962. This year, the 100th anniversary of his birth, comes a new documentary series that explores the fascinating personal and political history of the country's first Prime Minister. Inward Hunger: The Story of Eric Williams is a production of Savant Ltd, creators of The Solitary Alchemist and The Insatiable Season. This ground-breaking documentary series was directed by Mariel Brown.
A private screening takes place tomorrow at Central Bank Auditorium, Eric Williams Plaza, Port of Spain from 7.30 p.m. and on Republic Day, September 24 at 3 p.m., GISL Channel 4 airs this three-part series on the compelling and contradictory life of an iconic Caribbean leader.
Inward Hunger: The Story of Eric Williams Documentary Film Series Synopsis
Eric Williams was a man of contradictions. From a family that felt disenfranchised because of their class and colour, but who were in many ways privileged compared to the working class in the then British colony of Trinidad and Tobago. He was a man respected for reaching the pinnacle of British education, yet he dedicated his life to ending colonial rule. A lifelong scholar who was often unwilling to admit his mistakes. A politician who used even his disabilities as tools of power.
Calling for ethnic unity in party and country, yet not above using race to win elections. A passionate, loving husband to one wife, a cold and bitter wind to another and party to a third, secret marriage.
A man driven by hard-work and discipline, who allowed corruption and intrigue to flourish around him. He was seen as a man of the people, and at the same time, he saw himself as intellectually superior to others; a visionary who expected his decisions to be followed without opposition.
He sought after mentors, then pushed away even those closest to him. One of the first advocates of West Indian Federation, yet unwilling to drive the union after Jamaica's withdrawal.
Anti-colonial, yet not willing to depart radically from British systems of governance. A Prime Minister who transformed the lives of many in Trinidad and Tobago through education, political mobilisation and economic development, yet did not go far enough, some say, to undo the ongoing hierarchies of a post-colonial society.

Read full story here.

Hope for some Jamaicans facing deportation from US - News - Jamaica Gleaner - Monday | September 19, 2011

Hope for some Jamaicans facing deportation from US - News - Jamaica Gleaner - Monday | September 19, 2011

Forward Home to be screened in Barbados

Forward Home. VIP Cinema, Olympus Theatre,
Monday 26th September, 2011. 6:00 pm.

Please join us for the Caribbean and Barbados Première of “Forward Home”,
a new documentary from the Shridath Ramphal Centre
for International Trade Law, Policy and Services, UWI, Cave Hill.

The screening is hosted by Caribbean Tales Worldwide Distribution which continues the series “By Popular Demand”: Every last Monday of the month, showcasing a Caribbean Film at the VIP Cinema of Olympus Theatres. The screening on Monday September 26, 2011, will feature “Forward Home: The Power of the Caribbean Diaspora”,
starting at 6:00 pm with light refreshments. Screening begins at 6:30 pm.
Price per ticket BDS $16.00.

For further information please call 417-4807
www.shridathramphalcentre.org
Forward Home: A documentary revealing the economic power of Caribbean overseas communities, showcasing the experiences of Diasporic peoples who straddle the dual worlds of Caribbean Homelands and Global Cities as travellers and entrepreneurs, and the organisations that make the relationship work.

The documentary will be distributed by Caribbean Tales World Wide Distribution.
www.caribbeantales-worldwide.com

Marcus Garvey movement owes large debt to Caribbean expats, UCLA historian finds

By Meg Sullivan

This article, by Meg Sullivan, was originally run by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Newsroom, August 18, 2011. We will be following up with an excerpted essay by historians Nigel Westmaas and Juanita de Barros on the UNIA in British Guiana.

Conventional wisdom has long held that Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), which advocated racial self-help and the unity of the African diaspora, grew out of the heady political and cultural environment of the Harlem Renaissance and benefited African Americans above all other black people. Any Caribbean role, according to this view, was separate and incidental to the primary legacy bequeathed to American race relations by the charismatic Jamaica native.

Now a UCLA historian argues the reverse in the first book of a multi-volume series on the Garvey movement and the Caribbean. From the UNIA’s organizational structure to its most valuable foot soldiers during its first half-decade, Garvey’s Caribbean links were indispensable to the movement’s success, and the region ultimately proved to be its most important theatre, contends Robert A. Hill in “The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers: The Caribbean Diaspora 1910–1920.”

Researching the volume “was an eye-opener in many, many ways,” said Hill, a UCLA history professor and a leading authority on Garvey and the UNIA, which began in Jamaica but attained its greatest influence after Garvey established it in the U.S. in 1917. Caribbean nationals, both in America and abroad, Hill says, were the seed that grew the movement.

“Although the movement developed here and was based in America, it was predominantly a Caribbean movement, at least until federal prosecution of Garvey in the early 1920s drew the attention of African Americans and galvanized their support of him,” he said.

“The Caribbean Diaspora 1910–1920” is scheduled to be published by Duke University Press. With more than 400 documents, many of them newly discovered, it is the opening salvo in the third and final series of a vast collection of primary materials by and about Garvey and the UNIA, considered the largest mass political movement in black history. Highlights from the volume include Garvey’s earliest known published work, a 1911 letter to the editor of a newspaper in Costa Rica, where he was living among fellow Caribbean expatriates employed on banana plantations; a 1912 letter to a Belize newspaper criticizing social conditions under British colonial rule in that country; and a 1920 letter written from New York to the governor of British Guiana in which Garvey says that the majority of his followers are from the English-speaking West Indies.

Read full article here.

NEW YORK NEW YORK: Hope yet for Bajans on the deportee list?

BY TONY BEST | FRI, AUGUST 26, 2011 - 12:00 AM

Scores of Bajans facing deportation to their birthplace may be given a second chance to remain in the United States.

But the tough question is: what may happen with Barbadians who have already been sent back home?

The opportunity and the intriguing query are linked to a decision by the United States Department of Homeland Security to take a second look at 300 000 deportation cases now before American immigration courts.

The dramatic move has been hailed by immigration advocates in and outside the United States Congress and the courts who have been pressing the Obama White House for more than two-and-a-half years to change a dreaded policy which has resulted in more than a million people being kicked out of the country.

Tens of thousands of men and women from the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, many of whom have done nothing more than overstay their allotted time or committed misdemeanors, such as jumping a subway turnstile, possessing a joint of marijuana, shoplifting a $1 pack of salted nuts or sneaking onto a bus without paying the fare.

Almost 70 Barbadians in the northeastern United States are in the deportation pipeline and Andre Padmore, Barbados’ Consul in New York, described the move as “a step in the right direction”. He said they were “awaiting a detailed explanation of the administration’s plans”.

Read full article here.

Open Skies/Closed Skies

REDJET EXPOSES CARICOM's CLOSED SKY
By By Ian Bertrand
Story Created: Aug 2, 2011 at 11:51 PM ECT
Story Updated: Aug 2, 2011 at 11:51 PM ECT
The REDjet imbroglio, though staunched, still continues, and it has exposed to us Caribbean residents the gross inconsistencies that underpin Caricom aviation policies. Policies that are supposed to advance the socio-economic interests of all of us.
We have seen that our Caricom leaders eagerly adopt Open Sky policies for international air services but enforce Closed Sky policies for intra-regional air services.
Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica and Barbados have each signed an Open Sky air service agreement (ASA) with the United States. (Trinidad and Tobago negotiated their Open Sky ASA over a weekend.)
Yet these same fraternal members of Caricom and willing(?) signatories to the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, continue to persist in upholding Closed Sky ASAs among themselves.

Read full article here.