By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY Fred Smith yesterday criticised Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell for displaying “pettiness and immaturity” for declining to attend a scheduled meeting with the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association and a Haitian-American delegation to discuss the government’s new immigration policy.

Mr Smith called Mr Mitchell’s refusal to attend the meeting the “pique of a child” and likened his behaviour to “a spoiled baby that can’t get its way, throwing toys out of the crib”.

He called for Prime Minister Perry Christie to “step in and inject some maturity and gravitas into the situation” before Mr Mitchell causes the country “any further embarrassment”.

Mr Smith’s statements came after a meeting that was scheduled for yesterday afternoon between local immigration officials, the GBHRA, and the Haitian American Grassroots Coalition (HAGC).

However, in a letter sent to Mr Smith on Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration said no official would attend the meeting unless Mr Smith withdrew “the untrue statements” he made previously “concerning the activities of the department”.

Yesterday, however, Mr Smith said he would not withdraw his previous comments. He said Mr Mitchell should just “man up” and “accept my challenge for a public debate on immigration issues” in order to test the “veracity” of his claims.

“I cannot see what the minister can hope to achieve, aside from embarrassing The Bahamas in front of high profile international guests,” Mr Smith said yesterday. “It is my contention that the current immigration policy, launched on November 1, 2014, is an outgrowth of Mitchell’s own irrational, ill-conceived views on migration. In behaving like an irrational child, he only proves my point.”

According to Mr Smith, the HAGC came to Nassau two days ago to visit FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis, Mr Christie, Mr Mitchell, and also to visit the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.

The HAGC is a coalition of Americans and Haitians in the US who lobby for respect for the rights of Haitians who are either coming to the US or who are descendants of Haitians who are Americans.

Mr Smith said a meeting was also scheduled for the HAGC to provide “objective observation” of the country’s immigration policy, with Immigration Director William Pratt and Mr Mitchell to be present.

The ministry’s letter to Mr Smith read: “Further to our conversation of yesterday, Monday, February 16, 2015 (Archer/Smith), I am to advise that the directive of the ministry is that there will be no meeting with you, your organisation or any association affiliated with you in this matter, until such time that you withdraw the untrue statements you would have made recently concerning the activities of the Department of Immigration.”

It was dated and signed by Terry Archer, officer-in-charge of the Protocol Division at the ministry.

However, Mr Smith said he stood by his previous comments.

Since the government announced a stricter immigration policy that came into effect last November, Mr Smith has accused the government of “ethnic cleansing”, unfairly targeting Haitian and compared the Detention Centre to a Nazi concentration camp.

“I stand by everything I said and will withdraw nothing,” he said yesterday. “If Mitchell would like to test the veracity of my claims, he need only ‘man-up’ and accept my challenge for a public debate on immigration issues.”

The immigration policy, among other things, requires every person in The Bahamas to have a passport of their nationality with proof to legally reside and work in this country.

The policy has been extended to children, and mandates that children of non-Bahamians must have a student permit and a passport of their nationality to attend school for the fall semester.