Convicted cocaine dealer fights deportation
(CNS): A Colombian man who was convicted of drug smuggling in 2019 and given a four-year jail term made a successful step in preventing his deportation when the Grand Court ruled that the Immigration Appeals Tribunal should re-hear his case. Alan Lawrems Taylor Dominguez (49) was jailed for his central part in a 2017 conspiracy to import cocaine with former customs officer David Lobo and a number of other men. Soon after his release in July 2019, his permanent residency was revoked.
But Dominguez has been married to a Caymanian since 2013. He has a Caymanian child with his wife and is stepfather to her two other Caymanian children. He also received his right to permanent residency and the right to work as the spouse of a Caymanian in 2014.
When Dominguez applied to the IAT to overturn the decision of the Caymanian Status and Permanent Residency Board to remove his PR certificate, he argued that his Caymanian family would suffer if they were all parted and it was not safe or suitable for him to take them all to his native Colombia.
Justice Alistair Walters, who heard Dominguez’ application to the Grand Court last month, found that the IAT had not properly considered the situation relating to his family and erred in law by failing to apply the correct legal principles to its assessment of the human rights at play in this case under section 9 of the Bill of Rights.
The judge said the IAT applied “incomplete and outdated legal principles” and the consideration was not meaningful or balanced.
The IAT claimed it did consider the family. But in the letter to Dominguez upholding the board’s decision to revoke his PR and put him at risk of deportation, the IAT said his crime was so serious that it weighed heavily in the decision compared to other factors.
“The Tribunal took account of the adverse effects failing to reinstate the Appellant’s RERC would have on his Caymanian family, however, the seriousness of the offence overrode the Appellant’s right to live here with his family in the Tribunal’s opinion,” the letter stated. “As a non-Caymanian the Appellant abused the privileges afforded to him as the spouse of a Caymanian and is not now entitled to have those rights re-instated as a result of the hardships to be suffered by his family.”
But Justice Walters wrote in his ruling that the tribunal did not carry out a reasonable analysis to arrive at this position. Hs pointed out that the members of the status board and the tribunal are not immigration or human rights legal experts.
“It is also common knowledge that members of statutory boards and constitutional commissions are volunteers,” the judge said. “Without suggesting for one moment that the members of such bodies are anything other than hardworking and dedicated to what they do, I am not of the view that those bodies can be regarded as specialist,” the judge said, as he pointed to comments by the chief justice in a previous case that said such bodies require heightened scrutiny by the court.
In his ruling Justice Walters also found that there were no policies and procedures relating to the issues at hand for the IAT and status board to use for legal guidance.
He pointed out that while this did not necessarily mean their decisions were wrong, it made them “susceptible to criticism in that, without a clear framework establishing and setting out how these bodies approach their statutory role and particularly the exercise of statutory discretion, it is difficult to understand how decisions have been taken, on what basis, whether they are reasonable and proportionate and whether they are consistent”.
He ruled that the case should be re-heard and also ordered the government to pay Dominguez’ costs.
See the full case ruling on the judgment register of the judicial website cause G 0140 OF 2021
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yeap many are using our Cayman girls,, treating them like Queens until they give them a child or Two. ( So they can use the child/children as a Pond ) when they do bad and want to stay in cayman
YEs the CAYMAN CHILD Game is played by MANY to Live and get to stay in Cayman.
When will our CAYMANIAN People learn many of these Foreigners are treating them well , having children by them . THen comes the trouble a few years later.
When they got to go back home . Then they can arque they have a CAYMAN CHILD
Why cant Caymanians not see the game??
Human Rights Act = Criminals Protection Act
It’s good to be a criminal!
Interesting to trad that all comments are about the guy
Shouldn’t the most important person’s be the children.
Why do they have to suffer ?
Daddy’s a drug dealer. Mommy can keep them here away from the drug dealer, or take them to Colombia to be with hm. How are they suffering more than before?
Before he went out there dealing drugs maybe he should have asked the impact on his family. For him to use this is really being a hypocrit.
PS should we in these islands now suffer by allowing him to stay?
Send this criminal home in fact deport all criminals from Cayman so the rest of us law-abiding citizens can live in peace without fear of being robbed, raped, or killed.
To you, Caymanians stop being so desperate!!! Stop marrying these low lives and giving them Cayman status. If you can’t be part of the solution stop being part of the problem.
He is bawling that it will separate his family and not conducive to take them back to Columbia? You get an opportunity in a better country, get to have a family and you decide to squander it by getting involve in crime? The crime itself that can destroy people lives?
Now it comes home to roost, you starting to cry crocodile tears? You should have thought about that. Send his ass back!!! We have to be careful we don’t set a dangerous precedence here. Kmt!!!
Since when do i have to marry in order to procreate? U so fulla bull….hello! We live in a free democratic society…
So many deserving people have had to leave Cayman but the criminal Garbage gets to stay says a lot and explains why Cayman is turning into a real cesspool!
Marriage = financial contract…absolutely no penalty if husband or wife breaks vows…as it should be…
No one wants to leave Cayman. Yet another failing of a private sector board.
Turn these decisions over to trained civil servants.
What, like Eric Bush or the person who released 3000 stipend recipients names? Or the CS who failed to notice that recipients were in jail? Or those responsible for our wonderful education results?
Caymanian children…get in your stupid heads! Whst is so grewy about marriage…financial contract in my books!
Why do i have to marry in order to give my fully naturalized…7th generation..DNA child the same rights as those children born in wedlock? This clearly would not stand up in court…and i probably will challenge it..maybe apply under child name for legal aid…lol
So you are saying that every sperm donor who impregnates a Caymanian woman must have an automatic right to live here forever at the expense of the Caymanian people? Or does your incredible short-sighted arrogance and bias extend only to foreign women?
Marty her or employ her or deal with the consequences.
Ummm, your child has full rights. It is their mother who does not because either she is not willing or able to marry the father, or is not willing or able to seek and obtain gainful occupation in the Cayman Islands. You should have thought of this before you decided to casually procreate. This is your responsibility. Not that of the Caymanian people.
Well, your seventh generation child is only seventh generation one side, right?
“His family would suffer”!
This POS didn’t think about the kids and families they destroyed with crack.
Yes this is the first time he was caught, but the cocaine game is a long time thing.
Kick he rass off Cayman.
We would have kicked his rass off Cayman IF the government acted lawfully. It didn’t so we can’t. Thank the civil service. Hold them accountable and maybe things will start to change.
Take them with you
The governor, the attorney general, and the prison director should be a three person expert deportation board. Two of them have very little to do otherwise so this could help fill their days. Their reports would be more difficult for a judge to dismiss.
No they wouldn’t – the essence of judicial review is whether the person exercising authority nodes so reasonably and after due consideration. Doesn’t matter who they are. That same AG is on the wrong side of several judicial review judgments.
What the heck are the judges doing? 4 years for cocaine smuggling? Out of prison in 2 years? Another criminal gets only 8 years for molesting six different children and will be out in four. Parliament needs to sit down with the criminal laws and make sure the laws are clear that serious prison time is required for serious crimes. The judges are either a little confused about what a proper sentence should be, or hold opinions far different from the Caymanians they serve. It’s past time to get this sorted out.
He gave evidence against Lobbo so his sentence was reduced accordingly.
Or they are applying the laws that Caymanian politicians passed. They don’t pluck the figures from thin air. They start with the legally set penalties and apply discounts for pleading guilty or extenuating circumstances – but if the maximum is prescribed by law, the judge cannot go beyond it. You think child abuse should carry life sentences – fine, don’t disagree with you. But take it up with your MLA.
It is important to note that Alan have evidence against Lobbo and ensured he was convicted. Lobbo had previously been found not guilty of a similar matter. So while Alan did stupid things he did try and make up for it.
Only because he got caught too. No honor among thieves.
How about doing your daily bread like everyone else and stop trying to cut corners? You are a husband and a father and you attempt to smuggle drugs in hopes of bettering your life and now you want to beg to stay? Pathetic excuse of a man.
Send him packing. Remind him where he is from cause He do not want to go back.
Having seen the effects of drug addiction on three friends and their families, only the death penalty is a suitable punishment for smuggling drugs. The smugglers are greedy selfish uncivilised people not worthy of life because of the destruction their sow. They need to be purged from our society.
Death penalty only available, at least in theory, for treason and espionage. Doubt it will ever be used in the Cayman Islands.
Cocaine destroys the lives of many families, but the law protects this cocaine smuggler’s family life. Just wrong.
Convicted cocaine dealers are allowed to become members of parliament. Why on earth would we deport them?
Cayman justice system starting to sound just like the UK where all this nonsense is supposed to make sense.
As I’ve previously said, our judicial system has also been hi-jacked.
There’s no way someone who was grated the privilege to be Caymanian and seriously abuses that privilege by smuggling drugs, should be allowed to remain here! Then Justice Walters made us pay for his appeal??
Total BS. We need justice in Cayman! Serial child rapist gets 8.5 years?? Absurd!!
1) he wasn’t Caymanian, he was an RERC holder.
2) he gave evidence against Lobbo which sent a far more dangerous drug dealer to jail.
3) The IAT applied the law wrong. This was pointed out to them in the pleadings. They could have dropped the decision and remade it lawfully. They didn’t so they have to pay the costs.
Mr. David, I have to say you did a fantastic advocacy job. In addition, this also shows how strong our Constitution’s privacy rights are (enshrined in s.9, Bill of Rights).
Pointless procedural dithering.
Great decision.
Yep, the law is an Ass, but his lawyer is not.
Thank you.
I am liking justice walters a lot…he tells it like it is
…..i am facing a similar situation whereby i have to take out a permit for the mother of my caymanian naturalized child? Prove to immigration that i can pay the mother a salary…otherwise she would have to go home and split the family? Sad! As my child is a 7th generational DNA proven caymanian lineage? And no immigration, i do not want to get married agsin ok!!! I am happily divorced…freedom…
The mother gotta go. Just sayin.
Having a child, by itself, is not sufficient grounds. Who is paying for her healthcare, maintenance, housing, food etc.? If you are not willing to then why should the rest of Cayman foot that bill? Your sense of entitlement is astounding.
No child gets naturalized as far as I know. If you anit married and she don’t have papers that’s how it goes. Too many of them females come here have a baby and think they have rights to stay. No it don’t work like that.
Too many men come here, have kids with Cayman women, and think they have the right to stay. And it does work like that.
He should have thought of the consequences before he committed the crime.
Criminals have all the rights
So do non criminals but because the non criminals just go about daily life with no media exposure there is not attention drawn by them
When law enforcers don’t follow the legal requirements, yes.
This is what happens when immigration doesn’t follow the law including with regard to fair, clear and consistently applied guidance and policies.
Any accountability? No, as usual. Carry on.
Send him home. If he cared about his family he wouldnt be a sh*thead drug runner.
And if our government followed the law, we could. But it didn’t (and it doesn’t) so we cannot.