Address by Senator Arthur Williams to Graduation of Batch 11 Immigration Officers
Event location: Jamaica
Event Date: 15/04/2010 01:31:23 AM
SENATOR ARTHUR WILLIAMS MINISTER OF STATE, MINISTRY OF NATIONAL SECURITY
SUBJECT: ADDRESS TO IMMIGRATION OFFICERS GRADUATION CEREMONY VENUE: MEDALLION HALL HOTEL DATE: FRIDAY MAY 9, 2008 – 2:00 P.M.
SALUTATIONSM
I am pleased, once again, to be addressing the closing-out ceremony of a batch of persons who have completed the Immigration Officers Training Course. I had the pleasure, on October 19 last year, to address the closing-out ceremony of Batch 10.
Today, you, Batch 11, should have been addressed by Minister of National Security the Honourable Derrick Smith, but as I am sure you know, he is recuperating from his recent illness. He has asked me to convey to you his best wishes as you are about to embark upon your new career, and he hopes that he will have the opportunity to address you on another occasion.
When I addressed Batch 10 last year, I started by commenting on the fact that the number of female graduates was almost twice that of the male graduates – 14 males to 24 females, then. Today, I note that the number is 6 males to 11 females, again almost two to one. I am sure that the persons using our immigration services will welcome the charming faces of these young ladies who are graduating today.
Ladies and Gentlemen of Batch 11, you are about to embark upon a career that is critical to Jamaica as a tourist destination, as a place to do business, and critical also to the nation’s security.
Please understand that when a visitor arrives in Jamaica, their first impressions often determine what opinion they form about the country. And it is really an Immigration Officer who is the first person with whom that visitor will interact. You will understand therefore that your demeanour, your treatment of that visitor, your manner of processing that visitor will go a long way in ensuring Jamaica’s reputation as a tourist destination and as a place to do business.
The Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency has been working to reduce the time that it takes to process passengers arriving or departing at the island’s two international airports. The physical layout and the technological systems employed, have achieved a considerable reduction in time, and it is now up to you to ensure that the system continues to work well. I believe that persons travelling during the last twelve months would have noticed the reduction in time, which was on an average, three minutes from the time they first interacted with the Immigration Officer.
The Agency will be ensuring that improved business operations, supported by the available information technology systems in conjunction with the human element, - that is, you the Immigration Officer,- will facilitate a smooth and quick processing and thereby reduce that average time for dealing with a passenger, to no more than one minute.
In achieving this reduced turnaround time for dealing with passengers, however, we cannot and will not sacrifice the nation’s security. That is why your selection was carefully done, why your training has been so intense and why we have to constantly monitor your performance while on the job. The newly up-dated Performance Management Appraisal System (PMAS) will continuously check staff levels of performance and make changes wherever necessary.
In today’s world, the threat of terrorist action is real. In today’s world, human trafficking is commonplace. In today’s world illegal aliens are a constant phenomenon. Included in your training were courses designed to allow you to recognize and deal with these threats.
In addition, Passports have become more sophisticated, and the machine-readable Passport has helped to screen some of those involved in terrorist activity, human trafficking and illegal entry. And we too, in Jamaica, in keeping with modern practices, were the first Caribbean territory to introduce machine-readable Passports. But Jamaica will soon have to make some other decisions in respect of the increasingly technology-driven field of Passport production. We must very soon decide whether in the future, to include biometric information in our Passports.
In all this however, we cannot ignore the human element – you the Immigration Officer. You have to be always on your guard in seeking to detect new and innovative ways designed by the criminal mind, to defeat the measures put in place to combat terrorism, illegal entry or human trafficking.
Jamaica also has to make decisions regarding modernization of the country’s Immigration Laws. There are, as you know, two separate statutes relating to immigration control in Jamaica – the Immigration Restriction (Commonwealth Citizens) Act, and the Aliens Act, each with widely varying requirements. We need now, as has been done in Barbados for example, to review and modernize the legislative provisions and to put them into one Statute. I am pleased to advise you, that this matter is now before the Ministry of National Security for policy decisions to be taken in this regard.
Policy decisions are also required to be made in respect of proposals to review and modernize existing legislation dealing with matters such as:
- The issue of Visas;
- Carriers Liability Legislation;
- Obligations of Port and Airport Managers;
- Powers to enforce compliance with entry requirements;
- and Refugee and Asylum Seekers.
There has been no major review of the Immigration Restriction (Commonwealth Citizens) Act which was promulgated on the 27th day of December, 1945 and the Aliens Act which was promulgated on the 28th day of February, 1946. This will now have to be done. Other mechanisms to enhance immigration controls, such as the development of Standard Operating Procedures, will also have to be undertaken. Again, I am pleased to advise you, that these matters are before the Ministry of National Security, for policy decisions to be taken.
One of the matters that I mentioned above requires urgent action. I refer to the enforcement of the terms and conditions of stay, which are granted upon entry into the country. I will not say much more about this now, as I propose to deal with that matter fully in the State of the Nation Debate, which will start in the Senate shortly. Suffice it to say, that persons are going to be made to understand, that they cannot treat our immigration laws with impunity.
Ladies and gentlemen in closing, I wish to offer to this Batch of graduates, my best wishes.
This Batch presents an interesting profile. You range in age from 21 to 35. 14 of you are the holders of First Degrees and the other 3 are the holders of Associate Degrees. You come from varied backgrounds – from the field of Education, Banking, Research, Administration, Hospitality, Accounting, Customer Service and Library Services.
You have been well trained and you are well equipped for the task ahead. The real test of your success as Immigration Officers however, will depend upon how you respond to the challenges of the job, as well as the personal initiatives that you bring, to help the Agency to become more productive and customer friendly and responsive to the security needs of our country.
I wish for all of you every success in you new career and hope that by your work, you will make Jamaica proud.