So a tourist checks into their hotel...the first thing any smart tourist does is lock up all his valuables, passports, paperwork, cash, electronics, etc, etc in the room safe, or a safe deposit box down at the front desk. That tourist ends up touring about the island and comes across an immigration road block...explain to me what happens and how he or she keeps themselves from getting hauled away to the detention centre? Curious.

Call the hotel and see if they have reservations for said person. In addition, with all the crime going on; a "smart" tourist wouldn't even venture off that hotel property if they even came.

Well that is true...If I heard all the crime stats before I came here and was going to a place like Atlantis, I'd never leave the hotel property either...sad state of affairs.

That's what **you** would do. The immigration officer on the other would just haul you away, lock you up and then try to find out if you were legit. And Fred Mitchell would say, he was just doing his job

Of course Bahamas could use the same system as many other countries do. Here is an extract from the Jamaican regulations for carrying permits......
Production of work permit.
6. (1) Every work permit shall be kept by the person to whom it is issued, who shall at all times produce the permit to an authorized person or a constable on demand, or within three days after such demand at such police station as may be specified by the person first-mentioned at the time of the demand......
Many other countries give a person 2-3 days to produce the requested documents (driving licenses, insurance certificates or passports) rather that throwing them into clink and having a third person bring the documents for inspection.

Playing the devils advocate Rory...because if you are going to implement these laws and cards the immigration officers need very specific guidelines. Let's say I have friends in town, I turn them loose in my private vehicle, they get stopped because they are not in possession of a national ID card...a couple things can happen...they get hauled away being legit tourists, or they get a pass...but what's to stop the next private vehicle with an illegal in it from saying he is a tourist staying with friends...it's not that easy!! There are still too many loopholes and ramifications to some silly immigration officer over reaching on what his capabilities are because he is the boss of you and in control so his rules override all else.

When in Rome follow the Roman laws, that being said, you are at fault if you don't alert your friends to carry around a National ID if that is the law.

@BID,you slow,can't you tell a Tourist from and illegal alien?I sure can right away,you and your kind are quite selective with certain subjects,but make haste my Government with this matter,I am a raw bone Bahamian happy to carry my ID as I always,that's what my wallet for,so Mr Officer go head pull me over,I ain't got no problems,no Sir...

They just sound more and more intolerant of foreigners with every bureaucratic proposal. Sounds to me like another stupid income opportunity for Big Gov. Big Gov, wasting your time and money with every decision.

I dont agree with Fred much especially on the basis of the EU, Amnesty and the Rainbow Alliance issues but I think a National I.D card will be a great implementation. It has to be separate from the Drivers License though. Persons complain about carrying passports and other crucial documents. Maybe a National I.D that has all the right information such as, Name, D.O.B, Island you live on, National Insurance #, Passport #, Permanent Resident, Alienated etc. It can be like a permanent resident card in the U.S.A. The only problem I can see arising from this is the infrastructure, meaning accurate updates of the databases and various maintenance's, along with proper electronic communication between government departments. This can also aid in the police in checking up on persons by also upgrading their database. This information can be sourced to a National Crime Database where as Law Enforcement agencies can figure out if persons are wanted and also indicating what they are wanted for. In this day and age with so much diversity and immigration problems in this country I think this upgrade is really needed.

Devils advocate here...some unsavoury person nicks my wallet...according to your specs, they are now in possession not only of my credit cards, drivers license (which also has my NIB number already on it), they also now have my DOB (that would be on license as well so dupe info), my place of residence, my passport #, etc. Armed with that information can be INCREDIBLY dangerous for an individual...and INCREDIBLY valuable for a criminal with some sort of tech background.

A tech background criminal should not be able to steal your identity if thats what you are implying. Thats why the right infrastructure needs to be in place to accompany these ID's where as if it does get stolen for some reason, the securities will then take over. Also, the sophisticated form of a magnetic strip should be used to hold confidential information (not the magnetic strip you see on the back of your license today, there are more complex versions) and the actual design of the card has to physically have basic but not confidential information. Swiping the card with secure government database machines will obviously be necessary. Thats where you, the responsible adult, must make sure that your valuable is not stolen and if it is stolen, the above information may bring some closure to your skeptic.

What about this administration gives you confidence that the right infrastructure will be in place for any of their plans? Everything that was successfully completed under their reign was started and built up by Hubert Ingraham's administration.

So if your ID card is fakable (no doubts here)...or if you have an in on someone selling cards out the back door...the system is broken before it even starts.

Get a replacement

Follow along the guidelines that jusscoolin said, this would help eliminate fraud documentation and also weed out some of our not so desirable Government officials.

Can we also add the information on the ID whether someone is a murderer out on bail, or a corrupt government official, or drives a truck without break lights, raped his girlfriend, has beaten up a tourist, is a drug runner or human trafficker?

... and of course there's also the possibility of forgery as iillegals have been known to forge passports, birth certificates, etc. Also, what about those who are 'born here' and do not get to apply for citizenship until aged 18? Technically those persons are in limbo and are not yet officially "citizens"? How do you really weed out the wheat from the tares?

I think just about all Bahamalanders feel there is crucial justification for minister Freddy to be dealing forcefully with illegal immigration but shouldn't it start with levying heavy fines/revoking business licenses against employers hiring the illegal. The minister must know there is little being done by illegal immigrants to hide from immigration in Bahamaland. On any given Sunday morning thousands walk, peddle their bicycles or drive their vehicles in full view of police and immigration officers, making it a false argument that somehow the introduction of an ID Card is at the top of the list of even more false politically sounding headline solutions. Let us not forget it was under the Hubert regime that the President of Haiti felt comfortable enough that he flew into our tiny Bahamaland, rallying his nationals at a mass "publicly held rally" calling for them to form a powerful block of voters to empower themselves for the approaching 2012 General Elections. Hubert days later went before the media to agreed with the Haitian president's right to rally his nationals into a forceful block of voters. And, you think the lack of carrying some ID card is the answer. First, try modernizing our outdated passport issuing system.

>First, try modernizing our outdated passport issuing system.

And after you do that, how hard is it to have a database that the police and immigration can query in real time over the radio? How about also querying a licence plate database to check for outstanding fines. It's time that we brought our police and security methods at least into the 20th century.

Not realistic...then you would need to move away from a bazillion pieces of small little bits of paper that can VERY easily get lost or misplaced if you know the right person to talk to...to a more secure electronic format that is easily searchable!! All those people that file things away, and then have to go back into the files to retrieve them would likely be unemployed...think of the clerks man...think of the clerks!!

Well if you talking about lost and misplaced, you probably didnt see how the court documents are kept, which is much worse. The government will have to invest in 21 century technology to keep their initiatives accurate and secure. Labour filing is very old school and still exists embarrassingly in many important government offices.

Just another Government document to be sold out the back door, or produced fraudulently, counterfeited.
Why don't you just implant a chip in everyone's forehead!
Woah, shades of Revelations? The Christian Council aught to be all over this!
Government cannot get done right the smallest or simplest of tasks,
yet we are supposed to line up like good little drones and get "tagged"?
Hey, maybe they can charge $25/year for renewals, so we can be reminded of their power to issue your right to live.
(or not)

I am issuing Minister Freddy a challenge to have an Open House at the Passport issuing Office, inviting any and all Bahamalanders to see for themselves how your files are presently being recovered and processed when applying/renewing your passport. Comrades you might be shocked to discover how all your application and processing files are just sitt'in there gathering dust in old stacked-up boxes. It is so outdated, if you apply for a passport at any of Bahamaland's foreign offices, they have to send your hand written application to Nassau for manual time consuming processing. Is this the same immigration ministry who will be responsible for issuing these ID cards? Doesn't this tell you the immigration department is a total mess.

Implementation Deficit Disorder (IDD) would kick in the this project will never become a reality - Great idea that works well throughout Europe but in a country where we still can't track registered cars this is a stretch. Go to road traffic and check it out ...

I like this disease IDD. You should get a prize for this naming it.

Well....I know it is $200 to buy a license at road traffic. How much do you think they will charge for an ID card....

There are a lot bigger problems they should be focused on.

Yep just passed a lady recently who didn't want to stand on the long line at motor vehicles, she was being instructed on how to walk to the back, pay so and so, no one gonna know, just walk straight in the back...

Comrade Franklyn obviously you are not aware of an important fact. The Banker was in "possession" of and "produced" to Immigration officers a electronic copy of his work permit but still he was taken into detention. Why was a guest in our Bahamaland denied free movement?

Because the immigration officers felt emboldened by Minister Mitchell's anti foreign rhetoric of the last 18 months?

Finally The Bahamas is on board for fulfilling Rev 13: 17

yinna start prayin

Fred is the vehicle for the Beast

read ya Bible

Fred Mitchell alone is responsible for promoting this National ID Card foolishness. He would have you believe it's all up to Cabinet and the House, but truth be told the matter would not have even been put to Cabinet if it were not for the looney tune ideas of Freddie Boy. This guy is probably the most dangerous pseudo-intellect (yes, pseudo as opposed to real) in our society today with a very warped sense of self-righteousness and great love for the lime light. Wiki-leaks provides much insight into what the U.S thinks of this fella!

When I wrote to a minister two years and then a year and a half ago never thought that this would be considered. An id card where It could be computer swiped which includes your fingerprints . Some smart person wants to pay off the person in charge for his copy. Signatures of the Head of National Security, Head of Immigration and Chief of Police would be placed on it. Temp workers on work permits also required to have one. God forbid, one of you posting was to get murdered and found in bushes. But this will also help law enforcement to quickly id you through your fingerprints being in the computer data bank. If I was here illegal I would think twice about staying here. Used in travel , banking and as an id to get a drivers license and for renewal. A perfect time to get this now while the population is at a reasonable level. Peoples, we have to make everyone who are here illegally and those on the run from the law very uncomfortable as it stands they are too comfortable!

You are on the right track, that is exactly what I was going to say to avoid counterfitters. On another note, Bahamians want to complain about the illegal immigrant problem but they don't want to do anything that could possibly help in getting the numbers down.

The same thing with crime, everyone is sick and tired of crime but no one wants to turn someone into the police if they know that person. Something have to give in order to get things back on track, that is as simple as it goes.

Now we have a topic, ey. seems like sending the illegally working people home will solve the crime problem.

Comrade Franklyn, if it went down according your own set of manufactured facts why is it Comrade Banker was NOT arrested on the spot by the police for probable cause of uttering a "forged government document," not simply detained by immigration for not being in possession of his work permit documents? You can't just be plucking crazy stuff out ya head as you go along, cause it does make you go all giddy and dizzy

If you don't produce your papers, then you should be jailed until you can validate your rights to be in the country. Raiding shanty towns is a great idea,however, there are Bahamians that lives in Shanty towns also so they should also produce an ID. At this point, something have to give, if you want to get rid of the illegal immigrant problem, then this could help.

No...if as a citizen of this country I am detained because I am not in possession of a piece of paper there will be hell to pay...I truly feel sorry for the citizens of this country who are so willing and quick to reverse the freedom laws of this country for more restrictive and socialist controls.

If you're a citizen of this country and you're detain for driving without having your license on you, I bet you would be upset but you probably wouldn't forget it next time. Like any new policies or technology there would be kinks, but in the long run people will forget about the headaches and also the officers involve would get better at doing there jobs

Amen!!!!!!!!! Am wit u on dis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fred and da Beast of Revelation on da prowl

yinna betta pray

Is a National I.D. Card really going to help identify that dead tourist found in the bushes?

The police already know who most of the criminals are and where to find them. Political interference and corruption prevents the police from arresting most of the criminals and shutting down their illegal activities, e.g. the Numbers Bosses!

Our prison facilities need to be expanded ten fold to hold the known criminals living freely amongst us, wreaking havoc and fear on our society. But in the same way our Government can't even manage our garbage disposal system and our New Providence dump site, they can't manage to dispose of the living breathing kind of garbage that is the product of years of failed Government policies, whether it be of the PLP or FNM kind.

Why not just go straight to the logical conclusion? Carrying cards is a pain in the ass, just chip us like dogs. Then an immigration officer can carry a chip reader and process us like goods at the supermarket till.

They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. Benjamin Franklin

We need to think long and hard before we go down this road. Freedoms are eroded one small step at a time. First a national ID card , then restricted internal travel, then ...

I agree with Fred Mitchell but he also have to release this to he is going to apply the national I'd for persons whom are with out their citizenship aye. Because I no so much of persons who apply for their citizenship who still have not receive their citizenship can get a job or open up a bank account because they don't have no passport. The immigration need to stop being selfish and give people their citizenship some people can't even go to school because they don't have their citizenship and I'm speaking on behalf of persons that born in the Bahamas by foreign parents who apply and still waiting on their citizenship.

Slowly but not so slowly and surely dey takin away all the rights a Bahamians. Chile please, thought dis was suppose ta be Paradise. Wen da dam vat tax come (not da vet, da vat. Da vet dem done come and cut da dog dem tings off). But wen da vat come life gonna be so complicated..When ya grammy send da straw from da island , ya hav'ta pay vat..if ya go in da strip club ya have ta pay vat, if ya go on da beach to catch fresh air..ok well ainn much Bahamians is go on da beach no more cause dey say say they lil too dark an does make da tourist scared...nah ya have ta have id to walk from ya house to da street corner..chile please! run Bahamians run..they don't wann us here ya hear!

So will ID card for a gay person list them as male, female , none of the above, or undecided?

What needs to be addressed before any National ID card comes into play is corruption...
Police are too busy shaking down Haitians, both legal and illegal and threatening to take them out to the detention centre unless they give them all the cash they are carrying. You have scores of illegal Haitians living within blocks of Fox Hill Police station and it happens almost every day. They know the Haitians won't argue or report them, mention the detention centre and they immediately know to offer up cash and they can walk free. Ain't no national ID card going to stop that and get these people deported