Many motorists in eastern New Providence were caught off guard early yesterday morning as they were stopped at multiple points and made to prove that they were legal residents of this country.

A coalition of law enforcement officers including members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) and the Department of Immigration set up the checkpoints.

Unassuming motorists traversing the area were shocked at the site of uniformed officers armed with high powered weapons demanding them to stop and produce identification.

Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell spoke to the Bahama Journal from Pretoria, South Africa yesterday where he was attending the official viewing of the body of former South African President Nelson Mandela.

Mr. Mitchell confirmed that these checkpoints have begun and he asserted that they will be a normal occurrence.

“I have told the Bahamian public that if they are crying for something to be about immigration – I advised the public that this was going to mean in my view, an infringement on peoples’ rights to move about freely in this country, but it is one way to get on top of the problem,” Mr. Mitchell said.

“So it’s a normal routine event and there’s going to be more of it that’s just the way that is because this flood of people coming from the south of us we have to put a stop to it and put an end to it as quickly as we can.”

Mr. Mitchell said that talks are expected to get underway shortly with Haiti to seriously address this influx of illegal Haitian migrants to The Bahamas

Superintendent Stephen Dean of the RBPF also confirmed that police have beefed up their presence and motorists should expect to see more police check points along the streets of New Providence.