Press Secretary in the Office of The Prime Minister, Anthony Newbold said that recent reports of the Free National Movement administration ceasing their aggressive pursuit of illegal immigrants could not be further from the truth.

Speaking with reporters at the weekly Press Briefing, Mr. Newbold said that the Department of Immigration is still activley addressing the illegal immigration issues and there have been no changes in the government’s December 31st mandate.

“Well, the Minister of Immigration who is responsible for dealing with that and the Prime Minister said that if you don’t leave or come in and present yourself, you will be aggressively pursued. That is still happening.

“It hasn’t changed, they should just stay tuned,” Mr. Newbold said.

Responding to claims that the migrants have said that nothing has changed and they have not seen anything different than before the deadline given them, Mr. Newbold suggested that they [illegals] wait until Immigration Officials to come and see them.

As to whether or not the processing of applications at the Department of Immigration has seen any changes or improvements, in terms of capacity to deal with the amount of applications, Mr. Newbold told reporters that the department was ‘dealing’ with that aspect.

“According to the minister responsible for Immigration, that has been done. They are dealing with [applications].

“Is it at the level where it ought to be? Probably not, but according to the Minister, they are dealing with that,” he said.
Mr. Newbold could not confirm whether strategies of the aggressive pursuit of illegals has changed, but said those who are illegal should concern themselves with becoming legal or leaving the country.