Premier Alden McLaughlin has announced that an immigration reform proposal is being tendered for next week and will be going to the Legislative Assembly prior to the 28^th October deadline when thousands of non-Caymanian workers are due to be sent packing.

The premier said that the proposal will be mainly in line with the Progressive’s (PPM) General Election Manifesto.

In the Manifesto McLaughlin said there were economic and competitiveness concerns with regard to the continued existence of Cayman’s immigration policies and most foreign workers aren’t spending money in the local economy or becoming connected with the local community. This was due to the existing seven year rollover policy.

But McLaughlin cautioned, “We must strike the right balance between the understandable desire of business to operate with minimum regulatory control and the legitimate aspirations of Caymanians to be given the opportunity to participate fully in the local economy.”

It would appear that the present key employee designation that allows a worker to stay and work in the Cayman Islands for up to nine years, allowing him to apply for permanent residency, will be abolished.

The Progressives have campaigned that a non-Caymanian worker can apply for permanent residence after having lived in the islands for more than seven years as long as he has received a valid work permit.

This comes with a warning:

“Not everyone who applies can expect to be granted permanent residence, but everyone will have an equal chance. The current system of only key employees being able to apply is highly discriminatory and means, in practice, that mainly professional and managerial employees get permanent residence.”

The announcement is timely because a large number of key employees in the private sector have already announced they are leaving.

Whatever is decided, the decision is not going to please everybody.

I can only hope it does please the majority of us.