Immigration Minister Shane Gibson has denied claims by a Grand Bahama resident that he was recently abused by immigration officers.
Lewis Alman, 20, is suing the minister, the director of immigration and the attorney general in their official capacities after he claimed he was abused by immigration officers weeks ago.
Mr. Alman told reporters on Wednesday he was discriminated against because he is white and has an English accent. His mother is Bahamian and his father is British.
Reliving what he called a night of terror, Mr. Alman said the ordeal, which left him traumatized, all began after he and his girlfriend were leaving the "Feel the Rush Junkanoo Paradeﾒ on June 23.
He said a van pulled up and armed officers dressed in army fatigues came out and began questioning him.
"I felt they targeted me because I was white. They targeted me for their amusement," Mr. Alman said.
"My car was parked near where they took me away [and] I told them I had papers in my car. I am making an issue of this because I want to live in this country, a free country. I do not want this country to be like this. People should not be afraid to walk around in their own community," he said.
Mr. Alman said he tried to explain to officers what his status was and that he had the necessary documents proving his legal status, but that officers were not interested in what he had to say.
"I [told them] I had a letter from immigration in my truck," Mr. Alman said. "They werenﾒt impressed by the statement at all. They proceeded to ask me ﾑYouﾒre American, arenﾒt you? You came on the boat?ﾒ I said, ﾑNo Sir, I flew direct from England,ﾒ and I just tried to explain to them what I did.
"I work at Kellyﾒs Freeport. Iﾒve been here a year. I just came from "Feel the Rush". I explained myself and at the end of that, it was one particular officer who seemed to be in charge. He said, ﾑIﾒve had enough of this; heﾒs not telling me the truth; letﾒs get cuffs on him and get him in the van.ﾒ"
Mr. Alman also claimed that while he sat handcuffed in the van, the officers began randomly stopping people, detaining some of them. He said he was not released until the next morning after members of the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA) intervened.
His attorney, Fred Smith, who is also the president of the GBHRA, said his client is seeking damages for assault, battery, false imprisonment and breaches of his constitutional right, as well as aggravated damages, punitive damages, and vindicatory damages for discrimination, unlawful detention and inhuman and degrading treatment.
Mr. Smith called upon the minister "to rein in the excesses of his officers."
"This is just the tip of the iceberg. Mr. Alman was criminally kidnapped by the immigration officers," Mr. Smith said.
"We do not live in a police state. All persons, whether they are black, white, mixed or any other combination or whether they are Bahamians or foreigners, have rights in The Bahamas. This abuse must stop. Minister Shane Gibson needs to get his cowboy immigration officers under control."
Meanwhile, Minister Gibson said that Mr. Alman, while he did apply for Bahamian citizenship and that application was being processed, did not have a current work permit, and only had documents on him at the time of the alleged incident, which said his mother was a Bahamian.
"He applied for a work permit. I think the incident happened sometime in June. He never came and paid for his work permit until August, two months after the incident, and so at the time of the incident he did not have any current documents in his possession.
Minister Gibson said Mr. Alman, who he said is not a Bahamian, was released after it was discovered he had an application pending, but denied the allegations of abuse.
"At the time he was suspected of not having legal status in The Bahamas and they picked him up for questioning and once he was verified he was released.
"But the information we have was that he was not physically abused; he was not manhandled. I havenﾒt seen any reports that would say that and I am just hearing this for the first time. I am really surprised and shockedﾅbecause that is something we would never, ever encourage at the Department of Immigration," Minister Gibson said.
By: Courtnee Romer, The Bahama Journal
