Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, in her first official statement on immigration reform, hinted that changes are on the horizon when it comes to obtaining citizenship in the Cayman Islands.
“While we accept that foreign labour will be required to maintain our economy, we also do not accept that everyone who upon arrival should be on an automatic pathway to citizenship,” O’Connor-Connolly said as she delivered her government’s inaugural policy statement Friday afternoon in Parliament.
O’Connor-Connolly, who leads the United People’s Movement administration, said legislative changes to the Immigration Reform Act will be brought in the coming year “in order to address many outstanding issues”.
In her address, the premier said her administration believes that sensible immigration reform is needed, but when it comes to citizenship, there is a clear position.
“These are important yet sensitive discussions that we must have as a community,” she said, adding that she was pleased that Border Control Minister Dwayne Seymour is committed to this and he will be “ably supported” by West Bay West MP McKeeva Bush as his Parliamentary Secretary.
Though the premier did not elaborate on the looming changes, two of her ministers – Kenneth Bryan and Seymour, both went on the record earlier this year calling for a moratorium on the granting of some forms of Caymanian status.
Bryan, under the PACT administration led by Premier Wayne Panton, posted billboards in his constituency calling for immigration reform.
Former Border Control Minister Chris Saunders, under the PACT government, had initiated a review of the existing Permanent Residency points system.
The report has been submitted to Cabinet for review, the Cayman Compass understands.
Meanwhile, the Caymanian Status and Permanent Residency and Business Staffing Plan boards remain vacant.
As of Friday, no members had been appointed since the end of September, when the previous board members’ term limits expired. There has been no indication as to when new appointments will be made.
While this situation continues, the backlog of applications awaiting decisions has continued to build.
When it came to labour issues, the new premier said it remains important that “we must always ensure we provide pathways for Caymanians to advance in their profession of choice”.
Saying “we should also be fair to our low paid workers,” O’Connor-Connolly added that the final report of the Minimum Wage Review Committee has been “duly noted” by Cabinet.
She did not speak further to this, only saying that she will give Seymour an opportunity during his debate “to touch on the timeline for this matter being taken forward by this Government”.
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Most expats don’t want either PR or Status: we are here to work, and once we have finished doing so we will go home. Cayman is pleasant for a decade or so, but it is tiny, hot and extraordinarily expensive to live. We won’t be staying.
Much of the hot air around PR and Status is therefore a distraction (though, no doubt, an electorally expedient distraction). Cayman is bursting at the seams due to political mismanagement, most obviously in the hitherto unrestricted import of cars, and the failure to develop an MRT/tube/tram system to replace road traffic.
The government still doesn’t get it. Most people do not want to become citizens. They just want to stay here and work and enjoy this beautiful country. Now after 9 years they have to leave. Just let people stay and the citizen problem is solved
It is simply not correct that everyone on arrival will be on a path to citizenship.
The vast majority of people who come here on a work permit will either leave of their own accord or will be “rolled over” and will therefore never accumulate enough years to be granted citizenship.
Those who want Permanent Residence, after 8/9 years living here, can only do so after meeting very strict criteria. They must be financially solvent. Even after qualifying for Permanent Residence, during which time they, or their employer, still needs to pay full work permit fees, they must wait many more years before they can qualify for Caymanian citizenship.