Two government agencies will be ramping up efforts to crack down on illegal workers and overstayers as part of increased crime-prevention efforts.
Border Control Ministry Chief Officer Wesley Howell, speaking with the Cayman Compass on Monday, confirmed the increased crackdown, saying the efforts are “to ensure that we’re keeping crime to the absolute minimum”.
“If we can remove persons who are not able to support themselves legally then we leave the police more free to deal with our own homegrown concerns and targeted efforts there. You can expect to see increased operations from both Customs and Border Control and [Workforce Opportunities and Residency Cayman] in the coming weeks,” he said.
Keeping crime down
The increased effort to remove overstayers and illegal workers will help to make a “safer community all round”, he said.
Howell also noted that for people who are supposed to be working in a job five days a week, but are really only employed for a half day, “you have to find other means to make ends meet in order to feed yourselves and your family. Those persons pose a risk because they tend to work illegally and may be involved with some other illegal activities as well.”
Need to surrender
Howell urged those who may be overstaying or working illegally to surrender themselves to WORC.
He also appealed to employers to cancel work permits if they do not have sufficient work for staff so those individuals can leave the island, “otherwise you’ll be seeing officers from from WORC or from CBC who are dealing with that aspect as a matter of priority”.
“That person would need to regularise themselves and leave,” Howell said, explaining that working without a valid permit or for a different employer than who took out the permit is an offence. An employer who does not turn in the worker also commits an offence, he said.
Howell added that if someone is employing persons within their home or businesses illegally, they risk facing prosecution.
In 2020, during the height of the COVID pandemic, an amnesty was put in place for overstayers and illegal workers, with 138 individuals coming forward.
There have been no stated plans to reintroduce this measure.
CBC closing gaps
In addition, Howell said CBC is focused on closing any gaps when it comes to securing borders against the importation of illegal firearms and drugs.
He said under the leadership of CBC Director Charles Clifford, the agency has made “some significant inroads” in using intelligence techniques and training to help interdiction efforts.
“During the period through December to mid-January they were making an arrest almost every other day in relation to stopping guns, gun parts, ammunition and illicit drugs from coming in at the border,” Howell said.
He said shipments via ocean cargo, parcel post or courier are all being X-rayed.
“CBC has been doing their part,” he said, adding they are stepping up efforts “quite dramatically”.
“We’ll continue to invest in those areas through training, through equipment, through tactics and intelligence to do our part to help keep Cayman safe through the sea and air borders that we have responsibility for,” Howell added.
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