José Arturo Tatis Blanco (left), Consul General for the Dominican Republic, talks with a group of illegal immigrants on board a boat en route to their country at the police marine dock, downtown Kingston yesterday. Sixty individuals from the Dominican Republic and Honduras, who were illegally in Jamaica working as fishermen, were last month ordered deported. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
SIXTY FISHERMEN who were plying their trade in Jamaica illegally, were yesterday sent back to their homelands of Honduras and the Dominican Republic.
Resident Magistrate Lorna Gayle had ordered that arrangements be made for the illegal immigrants to return home by sea. RM Gayle gave the orders on March 30 when the men appeared before her in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate Court on charges of illegal entry.
TWO BOATS IN OLD HARBOUR BAY
Initial reports were that, on March 22, the Marine Police, immigration officers and Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guards swooped down on two boats in the Old Harbour Bay area of St. Catherine. The police said 65 illegal immigrants were found on the vessels.
Reports are that five of the men, who were living in Jamaica for some time, were allowed to remain in the island as three are married to Jamaicans and currently filing for citizenship, while the cases of the other two are being dealt with by their legal advisers.
A spokesperson at the Constabulary Communication Network said the men were escorted 20 miles outside Jamaican waters by the immigration officers and Marine Police and Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guards.
