Illegal immigrants rounded up outside tourism village
An immigration raid this morning on one of the busiest streets of Belize City has resulted in a number of people being detained for possible deportation. When News Five arrived at the scene just before noon, a number of vendors were packing up their wares from stalls set up along Fort Street, located just outside the Tourism Village. Immigration officials at the site declined an on camera interview, but News Five understands that this morning’s exercise is part of a routine inspection to ensure that the vendors are working legally in Belize. And they apparently hit the jackpot this morning, having found fifteen people without the necessary paperwork. Those persons, mostly Guatemalans–but including Mexicans and Hondurans–were transported to the Immigration Office in Belize City for processing. We were told that the normal procedure is to verify that none of the detainees have a work permit in the works before deporting them to their country of origin. But tonight, one Belizean performer is upset at the actions of the immigration officers, claiming unfair treatment.
Gary Baltazar, Entertainer
?The hair braiders are saying, ?Take them back, Take them back! They should take them back!? But I don?t think that way because all of us are the same people and these people are trying. They should go and harass those people in there because I believe that inside that building there are a lot of these Mexicans that have no passport also, so why should they come and harass only this section here, if I?m making sense.?
Janelle Chanona
?But these people are working here on a tourist visa and that is illegal Mr. Baltazar. You can appreciate that fact.?
Gary Baltazar
?Well I do understand what you are saying, but even though it?s illegal, the person who brought them in here should not do such things. Because you see what happens now, at the end of the day, what happens to them: they deport them. They are taking them back home and these poor people are out here working for their money, to put bread on their table. So what–I mean, government has to be involved in it.?
Following those allegations, News Five contacted revenue supervisor with Belize City Council, Mary Jones, who informed us that in order to legally establish stalls on the city streets, applicants must pay a twenty-five dollar fee, fill out an application form, present a form of Belizean identification, and then await approval from the City Council’s board. However, Jones tells us that their own inspections have shown that a number of persons simply set up shop on the street and then hope they aren’t caught by the authorities. As to illegal persons working inside the Fort Street Tourism Village, General Manager James Nisbet tells News Five that immigration officials were on the compound twice today and closed down one store. However, Nisbet says that action is only a “misunderstanding,” resulting from miscommunication between the Labour Department and Immigration.
