My wife, Joan and her helper had to go to our Immigration Department last Monday (17) just to pay for the helper’s annual work permit fee.

That was all. Joan is 84 years old.

She told me the Immigration Hall was ‘packed to capacity’. Both of them had to wait for over two hours!

It doesn’t matter if you are a teenager or 100. To immigration you are only a NUMBER!

Yesterday (18) was International Migrants Day.

One tends to forget “amidst scandal and controversy, it can be hard to remember immigration is a normal part of life. Throughout history, migration has given people new opportunities and enriched countries with fresh energy, ideas and perspective.”

Unsurprisingly, International Migrants Day passed by here without a murmur. If it hadn’t been for one of our subscribers, Freedom United, I would not have been aware of it.

Freedom United advocate against slavery and their slogan yesterday was “End the enslavement of migrants”.

Under the headline, “How immigration has enriched our world” they said, “To better understand how migration benefits society, here are some stories of real-life migrants, from IOM’s “I Am a Migrant”[1] project: “ You can view them at: http://iamamigrant.org/?trk_msg=AOS8HECFSQTK3B6D8Q96C1F10O&trk_contact=037FSGUJ91I19DOFIHRSCHO86K&trk_sid=RJ6LEA6LS1QQ8U7S50LR730G6O&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=I+Am+a+Migrant&utm_campaign=FU-EN-18DEC-2018-DETENTION-NAT-ACTIVE&utm_content=FU-EN-18DEC-2018-DETENTION-NAT-ACTIVE

There are various quotes from migrants and then this startling headline and message:

Tell CoreCivic immigrants aren’t slave labor.

These stories make the allegations of forced labor in immigration detention centers run by private prison company CoreCivic particularly horrifying. Some of us can easily choose to migrate, while others risk being imprisoned and forced to work to profit multi-billion dollar companies.

Even privileged immigrants can be vulnerable in a new country, as they face the daunting path to citizenship. To exploit people in this vulnerable position for profit, forcing them to work for little to no pay or face punishment, is truly reprehensible.

End

There are more than 250 million international migrants in the world now*, up from less than 200 million in 2005. Most are economic migrants, but a growing number are refugees. Some move by choice, some from fear. The US is the most popular destination, with 46.6 million migrants now living there.
In an effort to draw attention to the many human stories behind these migration figures, Mexican human rights organisation Escucha mi Voz (Hear my Voice) held an international poster contest on the theme “We are all Migrants/Todos somos Migrantes”.
The competition received more than 1,000 entries from designers on five continents.
*as of April 2017.
SOURCE: https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/abroad/we-are-all-migrants-posters-highlight-human-stories-1.3043526

In the Cayman Islands our history names the first settlers……

Settlers?

Weren’t they actually migrants?

There was no Immigration here then.