TOP IMMIGRATION STAFF OUT AFTER SHAKE-UP

C O N F I D E N T I A L NASSAU 000863 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2018 TAGS: PGOV PINR ELAB BF SUBJECT: TOP IMMIGRATION STAFF OUT AFTER SHAKE-UP REF: A. NASSAU 764 ¶B. NASSAU 692 ¶C. NASSAU 848 ¶D. NASSAU 711 Classified By: DCM Zuniga-Brown for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Six top administrators, including the deputy director, in the Department of Immigration were unexpectedly offered retirement packages in apparent response to long-standing allegations of inefficiency and corruption by the Minister of Immigration appointed after the cabinet reshuffle in July (ref a). PM Ingraham left the door open for &additional retirements8 adding &I expect that the Immigration Department will become more responsive, more efficient, more focused, and ( we expect that, generally speaking, Immigration will be a place that will not have as many things said about it or against it that has been said in the past.8 The shake-up unexpectedly and temporarily disrupted Post,s relationship with immigration on migrant interdiction issues. -------------- Top Positions Vacant -------------- ¶2. (C) Replacements for the six retired officials were not immediately announced. The deputy director, a longstanding Embassy contact simply left the job without any notice and was replaced by Lieutenant Commander Roderick Bowe of the Royal Bahamas Defense Force (NFI). The transition has been anything but smooth given the staffing gaps. The changes unexpectedly disrupted the existing operational relationship with the U.S. Coast Guard Liaison Office at Post, which closely cooperates with immigration authorities to process illegal migrants interdicted at sea by U.S. vessels for onward repatriation by the GCOB, and may change the relationship going forward. Sources in or with knowledge of the department confirmed the general picture of disorganization and a sense of continuing uncertainty about further personnel changes. -------------- PM Signals Dissatisfaction, More Retirements -------------- ¶3. (C) Prime Minister Ingraham left the door open for &additional retirements8 in remarks to the media December 1, which did little to dispel the impression of unceremonious dismissals masked by generous and timely retirement packages. The immigration department is responsible for processing work permits and residency and citizenship applications, as well as for apprehension, detention and repatriation of illegal immigrants. Enforcement actions targeting illegal workers, such as Haitians and Jamaicans, appear to have increased recently, with a second raid on the downtown &straw market8 in as many months November 24 )- just as the new immigration director was arriving on the job )- prominently reported in all local media. -------------- New Director Appointed -------------- ¶4. (C) Incoming Director of Immigration, Jack Thompson, until recently Director of Road Traffic Control, replaced the veteran director of immigration who was tabbed as ambassador to Cuba in September (ref b). Thompson is a career civil servant with nearly 30 years experience in various positions. He served as island administrator on a number of outer islands, including North Abaco, which is Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham,s constituency and home base. He was Chief Passport Officer in Nassau from about 1999-2003, and was appointed Deputy High Commissioner to Canada in October 2003. He was publicly praised by then-Prime Minister Perry Christie for coordinating hurricane recovery efforts in Abaco in late 2004, and was appointed Controller of Road Traffic in ¶2005. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶5. (C) The immigration department is notorious for inefficiency and the target of persistent corruption allegations. As tight-lipped as high government officials have been on this issue, it is difficult not to interpret their public comments as damning with faint praise, given the house-cleaning now clearly underway. An opposition-affiliated web-site referred to the personnel changes as a &political purge8 based on perceived party loyalty, but there has been no public echo of such sentiments. This indicates that the Prime Minister,s view of lax service and low public trust is indeed shared by ordinary Bahamians. Coming at a time of increasing layoffs and economic uncertainty, higher-profile enforcement actions, which are popular with the general public, may signal that any anti-foreigner economic backlash will also be directed at workers at the bottom of the social ladder (ref c). The new situation may stymie planned Haitian efforts to lobby the GCOB with greater vigor on issues of concern to this sizable ethnic minority (ref d) and cause more illegal immigrants to attempt to make their way to the U.S. SIEGEL