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.

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Top Positions Vacant
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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.

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PM Signals Dissatisfaction, More Retirements
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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.

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New Director Appointed
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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.

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Comment
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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