Amid reports that Immigration Department has been tough on Hispanic women but lenient on construction workers in contravention with immigration laws, Chief Immigration Officer Mr Ian B. Penn has again refuted such claims. Photo: VINO/File

Complaints previously reaching our newsroom were that while the Immigration Department has been raiding bars and nightclubs it has not been aggressively going after males who are in violation of labour and immigration laws in the Territory. Photo: VINO/File

Prior to the hurricanes, most women were employed in the hospitality sector and many, after losing their jobs, did not return to their homeland. Some turned to working in bars and nightclubs, oftentimes without proper documentation. Photo: VINO/File

It was since on January 9, 2020, that our newsroom had reported that Immigration Department had embarked on an operation to round up undocumented or improperly documented expatriate workers in the Territory; however, it was being accused of discriminating against women.

Complaints reaching our newsroom were that while the Immigration Department has been raiding bars and nightclubs it has not been aggressively going after males who are in violation of labour and immigration laws in the Territory.

While a guest on the Honestly Speaking Radio Programme with host Claude O. Skelton-Cline on Tuesday, December 1, 2020, Mr Penn was again asked the question, amid continued reports of discrimination.

“No, I don’t think that there is no merit to that because I would say that if the immigration officers put forward a plan to make certain raids in certain places it doesn’t necessarily mean that we are looking at one demographic against another or trying to be discriminatory against one group of persons versus another. Whoever Immigration have on their radar we deal with it accordingly,” Mr Penn replied.

Background

When the Virgin Islands was devastated by the monster hurricanes of 2017, there was an immediate need for the further importation of labour to help with the rebuilding.

Many of the labour, the majority being males, were employed in the construction and marine industries.

Three years later the need for men in the construction industry is still not up to pre-Irma years and this was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, putting many on the unemployed list.

Prior to the hurricanes, most women were employed in the hospitality sector and many, after losing their jobs, did not return to their homeland.

Some turned to working in bars and nightclubs, oftentimes without proper documentation.

In some cases, men ended up working under other companies without going through the correct labour channels.

Task force cracking down on illegal persons

Meanwhile, Mr Penn said while it seems like his department is not doing regular raids in the territory, the Immigration department is aware of persons conducting illegal activities in contravention to the immigration laws of the Virgin Islands and promised that their day to face the proverbial music would come.

Penn said his department has a team specifically for that purpose.

“I do have a task force that is the Surveillance Unit that ensures that persons within the territory adhere to the Immigration laws and rules and if persons don’t adhere that unit is normally dispatched to bring those persons to justice. In terms of making sweeps, it is not as easy as one would think that you would just get up and you would make a sweep and or go out and do this,”

He explained that for a raid to occur, there must be a contingency plan and it must be approved by him before it is executed.

“It is not to say that because you don’t see a raid taking place here and there every day or every other weekend or every month, that we do not know what is happening or what is going on.”

He added: “My officers conduct a number of covert operations on a daily basis and we try to maintain order in terms of the immigration laws. We have a lot of intelligence, we know a lot of persons who are here and doing a lot of illegal matters, and it is only a matter of time that Immigration will catch up with these persons and deal with them.”