Immigration Korner
By Felicia Persaud

Source: CaribWorldNews, NEW YORK:

On Thursday, director of U.S. Immigration And Customs Enforcement, John Morton, made it a point of hosting a press conference in Arizona to announce proudly that the federal government under president Obama has deported more illegal immigrants from the U.S. than ever before.

USICE deported a whopping 380,000 illegal immigrants from the U.S. last fiscal year, with only about a third of them being convicted criminals. So far this fiscal year, ICE removed 136,000 illegal immigrants who are convicted criminals, also a record, Morton said.

The optimum phrase – `a record,` meaning more than during the presidency of the Bush`s as well as Clinton and even going back further.

For me the question that immediately popped into my head after hearing this announcement was: `Is this really the change we voted for and hoped for?`

Now don`t get me wrong. I am all for jailing criminals and deporting those who commit serious crimes. But the reality is that many of those being deported under the Obama administration are hard working migrants rounded up at work sites through raids or those who overstayed their visas.

So is this really change we can believe in? The Hispanic media is right to begin to turn a critical voice towards President Obama. After all, this is a man who promised us immigration reform in the first year of his office and most of all, reform that is comprehensive.

Yet to date, all we have heard is a lot of promises while ICE continues to carry out the government`s agenda of rounding up and deporting many. If one needed any additional evidence that the plan is more for enforcement than any other agenda, note the $600 million bill by the President that will put more agents and equipment along the Mexican border.

The measure, which Obama planned to sign into law last Friday, would fund the hiring of 1,000 new border patrol agents to be deployed at critical areas along the border, 250 more immigration and customs enforcement agents, and 250 more customs and border protection officers.

The President can use his executive powers to bring some form of immigration relief to some segments of immigrants in desperate need of help. Yet he has refused to do this and instead continue paying paltry lip service to immigrants and immigrant voters.

Even ICE`s Morton was honest enough to point out that there needs to be uniform federal immigration reform to solve the immigration problem in the U.S.`You`ve got to have comprehensive reform that recognizes a need for strong border security, a need for strong interior enforcement, but also a means for families and workers to come here lawfully … And an ability for people who`ve been here for a very long time to get right with the law by paying a fine and learning English and paying their taxes, and getting to the back of the line,` Morton said.

So where is the congress and President Obama on this? – hiding behind more enforcement and of course the November election.  This is not the change we voted for and believed in. It is time the immigrant media takes the President to task on his failed promises on immigration reform and ensure he gets the message loud and clear: we will not and cannot be taken for granted.

The sad situation is we cannot threaten to vote for the other side since that`s the worst anti-immigrant party one has ever seen. So we are caught between a rock and a hard place – a change platform that lied or a racist, anti-immigrant one?

The choice is tough. Dems. are far better than racist GOPers. However, we cannot be silent in this fight and must keep on demanding reform for our brothers and sisters who desperately need it. The message has to be clear: more enforcement is not reform, real comprehensive immigration reform must happen sooner rather than later.

Stanford's Sticky Wicket next to VC Bird Int. Airport

Sticky Wicket, the cricket themed restaurant once owned by former billionaire R. Allen Stanford, has reopened its doors in Antigua.

The restaurant along with a cricket stadium has been reopened with investment from local investors, reports indicate. Both belonged to accused Ponzi schemer and jailed Texas financier Stanford.

The restaurant was located near to the airport, allowing travelers to dine between flights. Antiguan soccer officials say the cricket stadium will also serve as home to the Barracuda Football Club, its first professional soccer team and at least 15 games are scheduled there starting in April 2011.

Stanford's Sticky Wicket - first stop from airport, after parking lot

Stanford was once the largest private employer in Antigua with 800 workers. He has pleaded not guilty to running a US$7 billion Ponzi scheme and to charges including money laundering and wire fraud.

Source: CaribWorldNews,  Suriname:

Desi Bouterse

Desi Bouterse returned to lead the South American nation this week, vowing to fight corruption and respect the nation`s laws as well as the views of the political opposition.

`This president will be a president for all of Suriname, no matter who they are,` Bouterse said in his inaugural speech.

Bouterse, who previously seized power in two coups and is wanted in the Netherlands to serve a drugs sentence, was elected by parliament last month after his Mega Combination coalition won most seats in a May election.

His return to power was, however, criticized by Reporters Without Borders, which insisted it cannot forget that Bouterse continues to be charged with murder.

The organization added that even if legal proceedings are suspended for the duration of Bouterse`s presidency, it would be unacceptable if the murders were to go unpunished indefinitely.

Stanford`s Sticky Wicket Reopens In Antigua
CaribWorldNews, ST JOHN`S, Antigua: Sticky Wicket, the cricket themed restaurant once owned by former billionaire R. Allen Stanford, has reopened its doors in Antigua.

The restaurant along with a cricket stadium has been reopened with investment from local investors, reports indicate. Both belonged to accused Ponzi schemer and jailed Texas financier Stanford.

The restaurant was located near to the airport, allowing travelers to dine between flights. Antiguan soccer officials say the cricket stadium will also serve as home to the Barracuda Football Club, its first professional soccer team and at least 15 games are scheduled there starting in April 2011.

Stanford was once the largest private employer in Antigua with 800 workers. He has pleaded not guilty to running a US$7 billion Ponzi scheme and to charges including money laundering and wire fraud.

St. Johns: LIME Antigua has filed suit in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court against Digicel seeking to have Digicel cease and desist, with immediate effect, from illegally bypassing LIME’s international network.

LIME is also seeking redress in the sum of EC$23-million which represents revenue that LIME and the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) have lost over the past three years because of Digicel’s bypass activities

Don Austin, LIME’s Executive Vice President for Legal and Regulatory said today: “LIME has determined that Digicel Antigua is engaged in bypass activities in relation to the origination and termination of international calls out of and into Antigua and Barbuda in contravention of the exclusive licence under which LIME operates. This action by Digicel has resulted in significant financial losses to both LIME and APUA and by extension the Government of Antigua and Barbuda.

“We  wrote to Digicel some weeks ago asking that they put a halt to  these activities failing which we would have to pursue other options available to us. They have not discontinued the bypass activities and we therefore had no other recourse but to initiate legal action seeking legal redress through the law courts. “

Opposition Leader and UWP member Hector John signs the Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of while Ag. Pres. Dr. Edward I. Watty (left) and the Pres. Sec., Donille Blackmoore (right) look on.

By Nester Phillip

DOMINICA: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is to receive much attention under the chairmanship of Salisbury Member of Parliament (MP) and opposition United Workers Party (UWP) member, Hector John as Leader of the Opposition.

This promise was made by the Hon. member John at his swearing in ceremony at the State House on Monday.

“The effectiveness of the Public Accounts Committee is a concern for many Dominicans, and I promise to give it serious attention in the public’s interests.”

The parliamentary body holds the powers to look into and review the nation’s finances.

He pledged to execute his duties in the country’s interest while recognizing that it is possible to sway and become complacent and as such called on supporters to help him stay on track.

“When we reach at this level of leadership, we sometimes become complacent and forgot how we got there in the first place. I ask you to call on me and to get me back on track whenever I sway from my duties. We sometimes overlook the little things that mean a lot and end up being disappointments to the country and the people we serve”.

President of the UWP Edison James is throwing his support wholly behind the new Leader of the Opposition while urging persons to ensure that democracy is a thriving institution.

The former Prime Minister declared, “Hector ‘Spags’ John, as Leader of the Opposition will lead us into the Parliament, in the Parliament, and if necessary, will lead us out of the Parliament depending on the circumstances at the extent of which any impediment are put in our way. I pledge to you, Hon. Hector ‘Spags’ John, my twenty years of experience in the parliament”.

He also pointed out that both his name and that of John’s will be indelibly etched in the island’s history as “the only two persons who have been elected to a Parliament twice in the same session. The reason for this has to do with our fight for democracy.”

Leader of the UWP, Ron Green maintains that development will not be sustained if there is no “organic democracy”.

“We cannot progress to a vibrant, economically sustainable development that we all want unless we have a vibrant organic democracy. So I put democracy issues first.”

A congratulatory message also came from leader of the minority opposition Dominica Freedom Party (DFP), Judith Pestaina.

John, along with Edison James retained their seats of Salisbury and Marigot respectively, following the July 9 by-elections by a larger margin than at the 2009 general elections even with lower voter turnout.

The incumbent Parliamentary Representative for the Salisbury constituency, John, beat out his rival, Dominica Labour Party’s (DLP) Julien B. ‘Tolo’ Royer 772 votes to 415.

Former Prime Minister and Member of Parliament (MP) for the Marigot constituency, Edison James was returned as parliamentary representative following a 669 to 131 votes defeat handed to the DLP’s Dayton Baptiste.

The Salisbury and Marigot constituencies have long been a UWP stronghold since the party first contested elections in 1990 after its inception in 1988.

The party’s by-elections victories come after the two members missed three consecutive meetings of the House of Assembly following the December 2009 general elections. Speaker of the House of Assembly, Alix Boyd-Knights subsequently declared the seats vacant in accordance with Standing Order 15 maintaining that the members did not receive leave of the Speaker in their absenteeism.

Attorney General Francine Baron-Royer came to the Speaker’s defense stating that the Speaker acted within her powers and that the seats were made vacant “by operation of law”.

On June 7, 2010, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced July 9, 2010 as the date for by-elections in the Salisbury and Marigot constituencies.

Following their victory, the UWP filed a declaration before the High Court to seek the court’s intervention as to whether or not the Speaker acted lawfully. The matter is pending.

Jamaica, CMC – Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer Monday said that Antigua and Barbuda would seek sanctions against the United States if Washington continues to thwart efforts at finding a negotiated solution to its dispute over Internet Gaming Services.

Spencer said that his island had sought unsuccessfully since the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling in 2007 to secure a negotiated settlement with the United States and would now seek an early meeting with President Barack Obama on the issue.

“Antigua and Barbuda is concerned that the negotiations are being protracted, with no potential end in sight. In light of the obvious unwillingness of the United States to reach a negotiated settlement that takes into account the contribution of the sector to the economic well-being of Antigua and Barbuda, we have brought the matter before the Conference of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, which has supported Antigua and Barbuda’s position on this matter from the inception”.

Spencer said he hoping to secure “firm regional support to call upon the United States, a hemispheric partner, once and for all, to settle this outstanding matter” dating back to 2007.

He said that Caricom has the authority to act in unison to protect the interest of member states and that it should utilise “all at its disposal to facilitate settlement of this matter.

“In the absence of a resolution, the economy of Antigua and Barbuda is suffering. There has been a dramatic decline in the sector, significant increase in unemployment as a result, stakeholders, business operators are suffering and many have left our shores for other parts because of this elusive settlement,” Spencer told a news conference.

He said that while his country has the right to impose sanctions upon Washington in keeping with the WTO rules “we remain committed to exhausting all possibilities for a negotiated settlement.

“Nevertheless, given the debilitating impact of the fiscal and economic crisis on our economy and the apparent disinterest of the United States in dealing decisively with this matter, Antigua and Barbuda may have no other alternative but to signal to the WTO that we wish to impose sanctions. We are fast running out of options,” Spencer said.

Spencer said he did not believe that his country’s membership in the Venezuela-led Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) was a reason behind Washington’s hardened position, telling reporters that during the Prime Ministerial Sub Committee on External Negotiations, “the Internet gaming case was cited as a clear example of the difficulties small countries encounter in getting justice from WTO rulings in their favour.

“Clearly there is need for urgent reform of the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism especially relating to enforcement of its rulings. There must be one rule for all countries, small and large, since we are living in a rules-based world.”

Jamaica, CMC – Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer Monday said that Antigua and Barbuda would seek sanctions against the United States if Washington continues to thwart efforts at finding a negotiated solution to its dispute over Internet Gaming Services.

Spencer said that his island had sought unsuccessfully since the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling in 2007 to secure a negotiated settlement with the United States and would now seek an early meeting with President Barack Obama on the issue.

“Antigua and Barbuda is concerned that the negotiations are being protracted, with no potential end in sight. In light of the obvious unwillingness of the United States to reach a negotiated settlement that takes into account the contribution of the sector to the economic well-being of Antigua and Barbuda, we have brought the matter before the Conference of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, which has supported Antigua and Barbuda’s position on this matter from the inception”.

Spencer said he hoping to secure “firm regional support to call upon the United States, a hemispheric partner, once and for all, to settle this outstanding matter” dating back to 2007.

He said that CARICOM has the authority to act in unison to protect the interest of member states and that it should utilize “all at its disposal to facilitate settlement of this matter.

“In the absence of a resolution, the economy of Antigua and Barbuda is suffering. There has been a dramatic decline in the sector, significant increase in unemployment as a result, stakeholders, business operators are suffering and many have left our shores for other parts because of this elusive settlement,” Spencer told a news conference.

He said that while his country has the right to impose sanctions upon Washington in keeping with the WTO rules “we remain committed to exhausting all possibilities for a negotiated settlement.

“Nevertheless, given the debilitating impact of the fiscal and economic crisis on our economy and the apparent disinterest of the United States in dealing decisively with this matter, Antigua and Barbuda may have no other alternative but to signal to the WTO that we wish to impose sanctions. We are fast running out of options,” Spencer said.

Spencer said he did not believe that his country’s membership in the Venezuela-led Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) was a reason behind Washington’s hardened position, telling reporters that during the Prime Ministerial Sub Committee on External Negotiations, “the Internet gaming case was cited as a clear example of the difficulties small countries encounter in getting justice from WTO rulings in their favour.

“Clearly there is need for urgent reform of the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism especially relating to enforcement of its rulings. There must be one rule for all countries, small and large, since we are living in a rules-based world.”

testJune 14 – LIALPA is therefore left with no other choice but to withdraw work enthusiasm until certain critical outstanding matters are addressed by the Shareholders, Board and Management.

What is now abundantly clear is not that LIAT is unable to settle these outstanding matters amicably but rather they are simply unwilling to do so. As a result, LIAT’s management has left the pilots with no other choice but to “withdraw enthusiasm and issue strong resentment.”

June 22 – we continue to state that our members will resent very strongly the unlawful decisions and gross unfair treatment by LIAT’s management and we will keep on demonstrating a lack of enthusiasm in working under conditions where arrogance, dishonesty and unilateral decisions are the order of the day.

Dd July 25, 2010. “having exhausted all avenues and procedures and pursuant to – the requisite 7 days notice of possible industrial action is hereby served.

Although LIAT (Leeward Islands Air Transport) pilots returned to flying full time two weeks ago, the airline is under threat of Industrial action by the pilots beginning seven days from June 25, putting that at this weekend.

By letter dated June 28, 2010, LIAT acknowledged information from the LIALPA (Leeward Islands Airline Pilot Association) that seven (7) days from June 25, 2010, “having exhausted all avenues and procedures and pursuant to…the requisite 7 days notice of possible industrial action is hereby served.”

The Pilots earlier had since June 14, 2010 argued they were, “…therefore left with no other choice but to withdraw work enthusiasm until certain critical outstanding matters are addressed by the Shareholders, Board and Management.”

In a release they stated also: “What is now abundantly clear is not that LIAT is unable to settle these outstanding matters amicably but rather they are simply unwilling to do so. As a result, LIAT’s management has left the pilots with no other choice but to “withdraw enthusiasm and issue strong resentment.”

On June 22, following meetings with LIAT’s management, they threatened to continue what they referred to as ‘demonstrating a lack of enthusiasm in working’. They stated in a release, “we continue to state that our members will resent very strongly the unlawful decisions and gross unfair treatment by LIAT’s management and we will keep on demonstrating a lack of enthusiasm in working under conditions where arrogance, dishonesty and unilateral decisions are the order of the day.”

LIAT’s management on the other hand has been reacting by pointing out as recently as June 28, sections of Articles of Collective Agreement between the airline and the pilots. They made reference to information from the pilots, that while the pilots had said their Executive Council, “has not considered strike action or picketing at this time…” they threatened, “other forms of industrial action and that in all likelihood legitimate forms of industrial protest is likely to increase…”

LIAT in a letter to the LIALPA chairman on June 28, advised, “any action which constitutes a deliberate disruption of the company’s services will be considered a breach of the individual contracts of employment of the pilots and appropriate action will be taken.”

LIAT offered, “we are of the firm view that any dispute between us can be resolved by constructive dialogue and that the grievance procedure in the Collective Agreement, which includes references to the Industrial Court provide adequate and fair means of settling any such dispute,” adding, “Industrial action can only serve to tarnish the good repuration of the airline which the pilots themselves have assisted in fostering…”

On the same June 28, LIAT wrote to the Pilot’s Association advising “the Company has decided to withhold their (certain crew) pay for 16th and 17th June,” because of their refusal to work on the days mentioned.

- By David Jessop

CaribWorldNews, LONDON, England: As the region prepares for the thirty first meeting of heads of Government, it is clear that despite sporadic rhetoric to the contrary, pan-Caribbean integration is stagnating and that weak or no economic growth threatens what little unity is left.

In its place the abiding trend is towards sub-regional integration between nearer neighbours with complimentary economies. Thus Trinidad and Guyana are looking to deepen relations; the OECS is now well advanced in its process of integration; and the larger nations at the Western end of the Caribbean are quietly investigating ways in which they might strengthen their economic ties.

So pervasive has this approach become that it is hard not to conclude that the idea of a Caribbean single market and economy that embraces all of the nations of Cariforum might only occur at some hard to determine date in the future, as a progression out of a number of viable sub-regional economic relationships.

This is not to suggest that the emotional or intellectual commitment to the regional cause has gone, but to note that real politik during a recession and the stresses associated with managing nations, each with their own economic and political requirements are pushing the region apart, making decision making difficult and delay the most likely consequence.

Yet it doesn`t have to be this way. Instead of constructing a grandiose meeting agenda, into which it sometimes seems everything but the kitchen sink has been thrown, it would make much more sense for Heads to focus more on those areas where consensus and delivery is possible. That is to say if such meetings spent more time on issues that enhanced co-operation at a functional level, and encouraged a shared sense of purpose, a new sense of confidence might emerge that that could provide greater regional and international credibility for Caricom.

Looking back it is hard to identify any meeting of Heads in recent years that could be described as having given ordinary Caribbean citizens a reason to believe regionalism might matter or could play a role that in some way enhances their nation or their own interests and future.

Identifying issues that capture the public imagination may seem insubstantial in comparison to the big economic questions that leaders have to wrestle with, but it is an important part of what is needed if regionalism and regional solutions to problems are ever to have the popular legitimacy.

Issues of common concern are not hard to identify. They relate to the alarming rise in crime across the region and the need for a more joined up approach; the collapse in the profitability of the tourism sector and the long term structural problems that will arise if this is not addressed; the decision by the British and other Governments to press ahead with increased taxes on travel to the region: the list goes on.

There are also issues that require closure. Most prominent among these is the creation of a viable working relationship with the Dominican Republic in respect of trade and the EPA. If this cannot be achieved it is hard to see how what has been agreed with Europe can be implemented; how the broader regional integration required to make viable trade agreements such as the one being negotiated with Canada will ever become real; or how the economic and political weight in the world of a region with 35m people (as opposed to one with 5.5m English speakers) will ever be realised.

There is of course no substitute for the full and effective revitalisation of Caricom or better still its re-emergence as Cariforum, but until all Caribbean economies recover it is hard to imagine any willingness at a national level to cede the executive authority necessary to make this happen.

Without popular support for pan-Caribbean integration and greater transparency on the part of government and regional institutions the cynicism with which both regional integration and the Caribbean political class have come to be seen will remain. And for as long as significant and dynamic economies such as the Dominican Republic are isolated within their own region a truly viable and integrated economy will remain a dream.

It is of course easier to be critical than constructive but without these and other changes relating to structure and leadership, the seemingly labyrinthine bureaucracy that surrounds decision making and the pervasive sense real or otherwise, of delay, it is hard to see how Caricom can be more than a vehicle for co-ordination and giving focus to a disparate region.

Speaking to politicians and senior officials in Europe and North America about regional integration and the Caribbean`s institutions it is clear that there is a growing desire to find where possible alternative institutions to work through.

This may not make happy reading for the many good people within Caricom but it is what is being said in private. And while it is for no one other than the Caribbean to determine how its institutions and decision making bodies should develop, it is clear that Europe, the US and others have less and less time anywhere in the world to relate to bodies without executive authority.

When Caricom`s leaders leave their July summit in Jamaica a communiqué will be issued. It will most probably be framed in its usual opaque style after having been much argued over. It would be encouraging to think that aside from its references to important discussions that will have taken place on Haiti or the economic problems facing the region that it will set out a position on at least one issue that captures the popular imagination.

David Jessop is the Director of the Caribbean Council and can be contacted at david.jessop@caribbean-council.org

CaribWorldNews, MIAMI, FL: Four men were yesterday slapped with charges of mail fraud and money laundering for their alleged roles in a multi-million dollar ponzi scheme targeting the South Florida Haitian-American Community.

Maxo Francois, a/k/a `Max Francois,` Jean Fritz Montinard, Aiby Pierre-Louis and Maguy Nereus, a/k/a `Maguy Jean-Louis,` were charged Wednesday with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to court documents, the investment scheme involved two businesses known as Focus Development Center, Inc. (`Focus Development`) and Focus Financial Group, Inc., a/k/a Focus Financial Associates, Inc. (`Focus Financial`), and centered around the sale of 12-month notes with a guaranteed annual return in excess of 15 percent.

To convince people to buy these notes, the defendants allegedly made presentations in churches and on local radio stations claiming that Focus Development owned and operated successful businesses and that the money raised would be used to create Haitian-American businesses and jobs and improve the Haitian-American community.

The four also apparently told investors that their principal was secure and fully refundable and that the annual return would be paid from business profits. The indictment further alleges, however, that Focus Development and its affiliated businesses never generated sufficient profits to pay annual returns in excess of 15% promised to investors.

Instead, the defendants used newly collected investor money to pay annual returns or `interest payments` promised to investors and to repay investors` principal. The indictment further alleges that the defendants misappropriated money from investors for their personal use. As a result of the scheme, the defendants raised approximately $8 million from more than 600 Haitian-Americans living in South Florida who ultimately suffered a loss of approximately $6 million.

If convicted, they each face up to 20 years on each count and fines of up to $16,000,000.