The group, rounded up in in New Providence on Wednesday, included 87 men, 33 women and one child. In all, immigration officials said they apprehended more than 300 people over the last week – mainly Haitians – who are in the country illegally.
Authorities said they launched the latest apprehension effort last week along with police officers. It involved searches of private and public vehicles.
But officials also raided the straw market on Bay Street, picking up 52 persons believed to be illegal immigrants.
On Wednesday, Director of Immigration Vernon Burrows warned business owners that charges will be brought against those who hire illegal immigrants.
Persons found guilty of employing illegal immigrants could face a $3,000 fine, a two-year prison sentence or both.
Officials said the group picked up in New Providence last Thursday included 99 Haitians, 97 males and two females; 16 Jamaicans, 11 males and five females; one Canadian male; one Filipino female; one Cuban male; one South African female; and one Madagascan male.
The group brought the amount of immigrants at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre to 350. But officials could not give an updated figure on Wednesday.
Mr. Burrows also said that it was too early to report on the nationalities of the latest group of illegal immigrants apprehended.
He confirmed that they were picked up during vehicle checks.
William McDonald, assistant director of immigration who is responsible for enforcement, has said that the island wide, random vehicle checks are simply a part of the department’s sustained efforts to reduce the number of undocumented persons residing in The Bahamas.
The latest apprehensions were taking place as the group, Bahamians Agitating for a Referendum on the Free Trade (BARF), was calling for more to be done to address the problem.
The group’s chairman, Paul Moss, said on Wednesday during a press conference in Rawson Square that the government is not doing enough to address the dilemma.
“Today is the beginning of the end for illegal immigration in our nation,” he said.
“No longer will Bahamians allow our nation to run seemingly rudderless. In order to avoid a national catastrophe, we as concerned and patriotic Bahamians come peacefully to ask our elected servants, the Government of The Bahamas, to do what we are paying them to do. That is to enforce the laws.”
The group called for an immediate moratorium on the granting of work permits save for essential services and national emergencies; and an amnesty period of 60 days for all illegal immigrants to wind up their affairs and leave the country or face humane style roundups and repatriation.
Mr. Moss also called for a commission of inquiry to investigate “over abuse of our immigration department” and asked authorities to enforce the laws that penalize persons and businesses that hire illegals.
Earlier this week, Immigration Minister Vincent Peet said that the multi-sectoral commission appointed by the government earlier this year to look into the illegal immigration problem was ready to submit its report.
He said that its findings and recommendations will be used as the basis for the formulation of new policy to address immigration issues.
The government is also getting help from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to conduct a count of persons living in The Bahamas illegally.
By: Bianca Symonette, The Bahama Journal
