The year began with election campaigns heavily focused on immigration reform and ended with the passage of the newly named Caymanian Protection Bill.
In between there was much debate around the best way forward to protect and enhance Caymanian employment and identity as the population continues to grow.
The bill, passed in December, made significant changes to the legal architecture around immigration and residency. But more than anything it is a symbol of a change in approach.
Immigration Minister Michael Myles said as much, telling Compass TV that the bill was also a signal to Caymanians that they would be put first in their own labour market.
Cayman’s immigration legislation already includes significant measures designed to give Caymanians first shake at job opportunities. And Myles has stated on numerous occasions that those measures will be enforced more rigorously.
Perhaps more significant even than the legislative changes has been the change in approach with the new government signalling a hardline on work permits in the early months of its administration.
In September business owners across multiple sectors raised the alarm over what they saw as a sudden shift in policy. The Compass spoke to eight different business owners, the majority of them Caymanian, representing a wide cross section of the economy, from construction and retail to law and finance.
The employers, collectively responsible for thousands of jobs, including both Caymanians and work-permit holders, said that an increasing number of permits were being deferred or refused outright, even when there were no local applicants.
They warned the strategy could backfire, causing the economy to contract while chasing away jobs and limiting opportunities for Caymanians instead of expanding them.
Myles said he made no apologies for his stance, insisting that “hundreds of graduates” are returning home from school each year to find they can’t get work.
“What successive governments have done over the past decade is turn a blind eye to enforcement. Companies are accustomed to circumventing the immigration system and getting away with it. I will not be doing this,” he said at the time.
Myles has since said that he wants businesses to be able to get the talent they need and he believes changes to the law will make work permit processing more efficient. But he insists many businesses must do more to hire and promote Caymanians.
With further immigration reforms expected in the early part of the new year, including a shake-up of the PR points system, the debate is ongoing.
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Great job forcing people and businesses out this year by the gov. Discrimination and divide was the governments agenda in 2025.
Thanks Compass team for the reporting. You all have a great New Year!
We have all heard that people who became Caymanian citizens by dint of applying for a Work Permit, Permanent Residence, BOTC and finally Status described as “paper” Caymanians.
I have an alternative description: Deliberate Caymanians.
People who didn’t become Caymanian by accident of birth but because they WANTED it. Wanted to become a proud Caymanian citizen enough to go through years of jumping through hoops and great expense.
In my opinion not something to decry but to admire.
We will see over the next few years whether these reforms, some which I certainly support, will increase the number of high-paying jobs for Caymanians or crash the economy.
Happy New Year everyone.
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What Myles fails to see is that expats have come to the islands over the last 50 years, and created opportunities for Caymanians. Neither the financial services industry nor tourism would be what it is otherwise (or in the case of the former, even exist). It has then been for Caymanians to grab those opportunities, which Myles’ badly-thought-out legislation will hinder or prevent.
Hearing from those who have worked with him in the past, he seems to have the misfortune of being incredibly stubborn.
*cough* judicial review *cough*