Published On:Saturday, March 20, 2010

EDITOR, The Tribune.

While reading an article in yesterday's paper, it is even clearer that this reporter seeks to promote a change in the mindset of Bahamians to permit every person born in this country, whether their parents are here legally or not, to be granted automatic citizenship at birth. No clear thinking person in this country can think this is sustainable. We are a small nation spread over a very large geographical area unable to protect our borders. If The Bahamas took this position, in a very, very short time, our country would be overrun with illegal immigrants and our very country destroyed forever.

In a matter of days after the Prime Minister announced that the rounding up and repatriation of illegal Haitian migrants would be suspended, there was a pronounced and noticeably greater number of these persons moving about openly in the community.

I have noticed in the articles that have been published lately, an aggressive undertone which has prompted me to write. I am not an uneducated, xenophobic, irrational person as your writers often seem to portray those who oppose their liberal immigration policy. I am a Bahamian who has attended universities both in Europe and North America. I am a very qualified professional and a mother. My position is neither uninformed nor is it based on fear. Having lived in other countries throughout the world, I have come to appreciate the benefits as well as the problems that are caused by large scale immigration. I am not anti-immigration. I understand and appreciate the problems uncontrolled immigration has on any country, especially one as small as The Bahamas. Like thousands of other Bahamians, I find it intolerable that persons are continuously allowed to come to this country and openly disrespect the laws of the land by indiscriminately building shacks on property that does not belong to them when neither I nor my children can do the same in any other country or in The Bahamas! These people whose presence here is in blatant contravention of our laws then in turn seek to agitate for the law which they disregarded in the first place to give citizenship and protection to the children they bear in our country!

In the midst of this madness, as a Bahamian woman married to a non-Bahamian, my children are not considered Bahamian citizens. Where is the outcry for these children who may know nothing of the land of their father's birth? "Charity begins at home"! I think Bahamians should first be concerned about the children of Bahamian women who pass on Bahamian heritage to their children before they seek to agitate for rights for persons who may be born in this country of Haitian heritage and in very many instances, see themselves as Haitian. They support and promote a culture and a heritage that is not Bahamian!

I met someone recently who was proof positive that the current policy of seeking to regularise as many persons of non-Bahamian heritage will somehow make them less angry and aggressive is wrong. This person, their parents and siblings have all been granted citizenship in this country. The parents were here illegally. The children have all attended public school and college in The Bahamas, courtesy of the Bahamian tax payer. The children have never been to Haiti. In speech, they sound Bahamian but it is only when you speak to them that you find that they may hold a Bahamian passport but they are Haitian at heart. They have no love for nor allegiance to The Bahamas. This Bahamian educated man sees nothing wrong with violence as a way to resolve every issue. With the greatest of pride he reminded us of how the Haitians took their independence by force. He went on to tell us that with their numbers here, they will do the same in The Bahamas. Make no mistake, they may be among us but they are not of us. As a people, we have not been zealous about to whom we grant citizenship and I fear the next generation will pay a very high price for our negligence if we don't take an aggressive stand.

Let me close by saying that much is always made about the fact that Bahamians did not have to fight to gain independence. Clearly, we will need to fight to preserve our heritage and our country for our Bahamian children. Make no mistake, that is a war we're prepared to have and it is a war we intend to win for the sake of our children. It is at their own peril that successive governments use the granting of citizenship to seek to gain votes and political favours. A mother's natural instinct is to fight for her children and we intend to fight to win.

A CONCERNED

BAHAMIAN

MOTHER

Nassau,

March 9, 2010.