American still refuses to go home, denied bail

An American who says he has “fallen in love” with Belize and is refusing to leave was denied bail again today and sent back to Hattieville prison. Steven Griffith, who has been living in Belize illegally since 1996, was picked up by immigration officials in March and was to be deported back to the United States. However, Griffith has argued that he does not want to go back and has destroyed his U.S. passport, offering to renounce his American citizenship, and is refusing all attempts by the U.S. Embassy to facilitate his return to the States. In fact, Griffith says he considers Belize his adopted home. But for the next few weeks at least, he will be calling the Hattieville Prison home as Justice Michelle Arana today denied Griffith bail, saying that although he does have the right to liberty, he has committed an immigration breach. Arana continued that Griffith does not have the right to appeal, but would have to go to the Minister of Immigration to have him rescind the detention order.