Last week, over the course of two days (Thursday, 23 March and Friday, 24 March 2017) senior public officials from the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) visited the Cayman Islands to discuss matters related to immigration services and border security.

The TCI delegation consisted of the Deputy Premier of TCI and Minister of Border Control and Employment, Hon. Sean Astwood; Permanent Secretary of Border Control and Labour, Mrs. Clara Gardiner; and Head of Secretariat Ms. Cynara John.

During the official visit, the TCI representatives met with the Her Excellency the Governor, Helen Kilpatrick; Premier, Hon. Alden McLaughlin; Deputy Governor, Hon. Franz Manderson and executives from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Department of Immigration.

“Engaging with our Caribbean neighbours to tackle shared challenges and achieve common goals is always rewarding,” Ministry of Home Affairs Acting Deputy Chief Officer (Security and Public Safety) Michael Ebanks said. “Given the complexities of migration management, it is not only desirable but essential that we continue to search for solutions through the lens of collaboration.”

Led by Acting Chief Immigration Officer Bruce Smith, senior managers in the Department of Immigration embraced the opportunity to extensively engage with the TCI delegation.

“Over the many years, we have fostered a close working relationship with our counterparts from the TCI and we were pleased that they visited us again in order to facilitate face-to-face dialog on the always evolving and topical issue of immigration,” Mr. Smith explained.