By FARRAH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
TWO Haitian men who were found living on two different islands without the required legal documents were each fined $300 yesterday.
Esaie Dorival, 40, and Lejiste Wilgens, 21, were arrested after they were found in New Providence and Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera, having landed in the country without leave of an immigration officer.
The court was told a team of immigration officers approached Dorival in the Cowpen Road area on January 20. When they asked him to show proof of his status, he was unable to comply with their request. As a result he was cautioned and arrested. When he was questioned at the Detention Centre, Dorival said he had entered the country illegally in 2016. The prosecution also said Wilgens was turned over to immigration officials in Governor’s Harbour on January 29. When he was questioned by a senior immigration officer on the settlement, he could not say when he came to the country. The prosecution said checks of the immigration system also revealed that Wilgens had never made any attempts to apply for legal status.
After pleading guilty to illegal landing, Dorival and Wilgens were each fined $300 or one month in prison. Magistrate Samuel McKinney said once the fines were paid or sentences were served, the men would be turned over to the director of immigration for deportation.
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