CARIBBEAN TODAY


lwww-.carbbentdayco


ne ws


U.S. issues final rule for travelers to the Caribbean Guyanese-born U.S. immigration
WASHINGTON The for the land and sea portion and fraud."nt in
United States has issued a of the Western Hemisphere The DHS said it had decid- agent charged demanding
Tr.- I I11, ""n 'A 1_'A V 11 -.I1rT-* -.-, 11 IxTT TPT\ -1 -_-* ,1 ] TTl T 1r 1 1- A -


June 1, 2zu9 deadline for all
American travelers returning
from the Caribbean by land or
sea to have either a passport
or other approved documents
to enter the U.S.
 U.S. citizens are already
required to have a passport
when returning home by air,
but the rule will kick in for
cruise passengers as well as
those who re-enter the coun-
try at land crossings.
 The U.S. departments of
Homeland Security (DHS)
and State (DOS) indicated
in a joint statement late last
month that the rule, which
also encompasses travel to
Canada and Bermuda, is final


MIAMI In his first official
visit to southern Florida since
winning last September's gen-
eral elections, Jamaica Prime
Minister Bruce Golding called
on nationals here to work
closely with his administration
for the betterment of the
island-nation.
 "We need to make a
greater effort," he told a town
hall meeting Mar. 28 at Nova
Southeastern University in
Davie. "Jamaica couldn't sur-
vive without you.
 "Jamaicans abroad are
our greatest ambassadors,"
Golding continued. "Jamaica
is too rich to be so poor."
 The Jamaican leader said
about 350,000 of Jamaica's 2.5
million people live in poverty.
 In addition to remittances
that contribute significantly to
Jamaica's economy, Golding
called on his compatriots
abroad to give of their time,
talent and skills to help the
island grow. The Inter-
American Development Bank
(IDB) said Jamaicans in the
United States sent home an
estimated $2.1 billion last year.


 NELSON A. KING

NEW YORK The son of
two Caribbean nationals is the
new governor of New York
following the resignation of
Governor Eliot Spitzer.
 The parents of the former
Lieutenant Governor David
A. Paterson were born in
Grenada and Jamaica. His
Grenadian-born father is a for-
mer New York state senator.
 Paterson became New
York's 55th governor last
month. He is the state's first
black governor and replaces
Spitzer, who announced his


Travel Initiative (WHT-),
also known as the U.S. pass-
port rule.
 "We are on course to
implement and enforce the
Western Hemisphere Travel
Initiative, which is an impor-
tant step forward in securing
the homeland," said Homeland
Security Secretary Michael
Chertoff.
 "Limiting and standardiz-
ing the types of documents
presented will result in a more
secure and efficient border,"
he added.
 "We will continue to
encourage cross-border travel
and trade while at the same
time decreasing identity theft


 Golding also touched on a
wide range of issues, from esca-
lating food prices, finding alter-
native energy sources, over-
hauling the educational system,
to rampant crime. He said the
incumbent Jamaica Labour
Party (JLP) is determined to
address "the causes of crime.
 "We have to strengthen
the capacity of the police
force," he said, pointing out,
however, that Kb lh r you can
strengthen that police force
you are going to have to clean
it out."

HONOREES
 Last month's town hall
meeting was the first of a
series of events that the
Jamaica prime minister was
scheduled to attend during his
three-day visit to South
Florida. The following day
Golding was expected to
attend church services at the
Maranatha Seventh Day
Adventist Church in Miami.
He was also the featured
speaker on Mar. 30 at the sec-
ond annual Community
Service Awards Ceremony and


resignation following revela-
tions that he was involved in a
prostitution ring.
 "I am deeply sorry that I
did not live up to what was
expected of me," Spitzer said.
"To every New Yorker, and to
all those who believed in what
I tried to stand for, I sincerely
apologize."

UNTESTED
 Paterson is said to be
liked and respected by leading
figures in both main United
States political parties, but is
also considered untested.
 In 2006, he surprised the
Democratic establishment in


ed to issue me WHTI land and
sea final rule more than a year
before its implementation in
order "to give the public ample
notice and time to obtain the
WHTI-compliant documents
they will need to enter or re-
enter the United States on or
after June 1, 2009."
 It said many cross-border
travelers already have WHTI-
compliant documents, such as
a passport or a Trusted
Traveler Card NEXUS,
SENTRI, and FAST.
 The DOS added that it was
already accepting applications
for the new passport cards.
0


Tea Party in Miami, hosted by
the Jamaica Consulate. During
that event, 12 Jamaican nation-
als were honored for their con-
tributions to the community.
 The honorees included
poet Ivy Claudette Armstrong;
Lauderdale Lakes Mayor
Samuel Brown; Tampa com-
munity activist Elloreece B.
Burrell; NASA mission man-
ager Glenn Chin; media spe-
cialist Don Daly; former
Houston, Texas Honorary
Consul Beverly Ford; and
record-breaking pilot
Barrington Irving.
 The others were Miami
Anglican priest the Reverend
Horace Ward; Michael and
Jackie Shaw of Sunshine
Theatre Company; founder of
the Jamaica Nurses Association
of Florida Joyce Wright; and
educators Winston Whyte and
Karl S. Wright.

Golding says all the right
things in meeting with
Jamaicans in South Florida,
page 11.
0


Albany, the state's capital, by
leaving the Senate and the
possibility of becoming major-
ity leader if the Democrats
captured a majority there to
run for the largely ceremonial
post of lieutenant governor.
 Born in Brooklyn on May
20, 1954, an early childhood
infection left him with severe-
ly limited sight.
 Paterson is a graduate of
Columbia University and
Hofstra Law School, both in
New York, and is also an
adjunct professor at Columbia
University.
0


sex for issuing 'green card'


NEW YORK New York
police have arrested a
Guyanese-born United States
federal immigration official
for demanding sex from a
Colombian woman in
exchange for a green card.
 Prosecutors in Queens
last month said that Isaac R.
Baichu, 46, was recorded
demanding sex from the
unidentified young woman,
and will be prosecuted on cor-
ruption charges.
 Immigration officials said
Baichu handled about 8,000
green card applications during
his three years as an adjudica-
tor in the U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services part of
the federal Department of
Homeland Security.
 Prosecutors said he plead-
ed not guilty to felony and
misdemeanor charges of
coercing the young woman to
perform oral sex and of prom-
ising to help her secure immi-
gration papers in exchange for
further sexual favors. If con-
victed, he will face up to seven
years in prison.
 An immigration
spokesman said Baichu


has been suspended without
pay, and the inspector general
of Homeland Security is
reviewing his other cases.

MORE VICTIMS
 Prosecutors, who said
they recorded a meeting
between Baichu and the
woman on Mar. 11, at which
he made similar demands for
sex, urged any other victims to
come forward.
 Money, not sex, is the
more common currency of
corruption in immigration,
officials said.
 The young woman in
Queens, whose name is being
withheld because the authori-
ties consider her the victim of
a sex crime, did not even tell
her husband what had hap-
pened, officials said. They said
she came to the U.S. on a
tourist visa in 2004 and over-
stayed.
 Authorities said when she
married an American citizen a
year ago, the law allowed her
to apply to "adjust" her illegal
status.
 But unless her green card
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 4)


 U.S. remains firm on sending

Caribbean criminals back home


BRIDGETOWN, Barbados,
CMC A U.S. State
Department official said that
Washington will continue to
send back criminal deportees
to the region, even though the
George W. Bush administra-
tion was aware that deporta-
tion remained a key issue for
countries in the Caribbean.
 The Assistant Secretary
of State for the Western
Hemisphere Thomas Shannon
told the Caribbean Media
Corporation (CMC) that
Washington was bound by law
to deport criminals.
 "We are deporting citi-
zens of the Caribbean who
have committed crimes in the
United States and we are
under a legal requirement to
do that," Shannon said.
 "This is something.. .we
must do in compliance with
our own law."

CONCERNS
 At the June 18-21, 2007
Conference on the Caribbean
held in Washington D.C.,
leaders of the Caribbean
community (CARICOM)
raised the topic of deportation
in their meetings with
President Bush and Secretary
of State Condoleeza Rice. One


of their consistent concerns
was the need to receive more
information on deportees,
including more detailed crimi-
nal records. Shannon said the
U.S. listened to the concerns
and will act accordingly.
 "What we can do is work
more closely with out
Caribbean partners to make
sure that when Caribbean
nationals are deported back to
their home countries that their
home countries know who is
coming (and) what crimes they
have committed," he said.
 "We've worked through
international institutions like
the International Organization
for Migration (IOM) to help
build capability in these nations
to reintegrate these people in
the Caribbean society."
 During the Washington
conference, CARICOM leaders
renewed their call for U.S. assis-
tance with the lik 111 and
reintegration of deportees. The
United Nations Development
Program (UNDP) funds a $1
million project in Haiti to pro-
vide deportee reintegration
services including counseling,
vocational training, skills
development and micro-
credit lending.
0


Jamaica P.RM. calls for closer working


relationship with diaspora in the U.S.


New N.Y. governor has Caribbean roots


April 2008


1