Bush calls for new expats to ‘integrate or evacuate’
(CNS): Former Cayman Islands premier McKeeva Bush has said there is a growing “trend of people coming to our shores and want nothing to do with many native Caymanians”. During a press conference on Wednesday to launch a new political non-profit organisation, he called on these new arrivals to “integrate or evacuate”. The veteran MP said Cayman’s past immigration was successful because people integrated into the local community, but the behaviour now was un-Caymanian.
He said things are changing with a growing population and rapid increase in newcomers who are not mixing into the community, which is causing division. He said the government needs to find a new way of allowing people to secure residency rights while they live and work here, but in the future, Caymanian status should be reserved for the descendants of Caymanians and those who marry Caymanians.
“Our islands are too small for this kind of segregated mentality, and I can tell you that history is rife with many countries that went that route, and the division in their schools, their workplace, their supermarkets, and even their churches have created a social disharmony,” he said.
“To those people who do not want to integrate and be a part of this community, that behaviour is un-Caymanian, and I ask you to stop it. We don’t want our small islands to go down that route. Simply put, integrate or evacuate,” Bush added.
Launching his new non-profit organisation ahead of his plans for re-election, the former premier, now a parliamentary secretary in the ministry responsible for immigration and labour, said that in previous years, many people came here from overseas but integrated into the community, becoming part of its fabric.
Bush is infamous for the controversial mass status grants given to thousands of people in 2003, which came about because of the huge number of individuals who had been living in Cayman for decades at the time with no residency rights of any kind.
He said he knows that he was vilified for that, explaining that there were some 16,000 people at the time who “needed fixing” in terms of their immigration status. Immigration had been necessary to build modern Cayman, he said, and when the status grants were made, it was a result of decades of people coming to live, work and settle here without any rights, which had to be addressed.
He said you can’t build a country without foreign workers, but things were different now, and he was aware of the public response to the increasing population.
“The growth that we saw in the 1970s to the early 2000s was necessary to build the Cayman we have today. We have now reached a point where the population is growing faster than the opportunities that were previously available, so much so that too many people are being left behind,” Bush said.
“This is a recipe for social disharmony, and we need to slow down the population explosion, as our infrastructure and opportunities are not growing fast enough to accommodate this fast growth.”
Bush argued that he has never been anti-growth or anti-development but there is a time and place for everything. “People are saying the time is now to limit the grant of Caymanian status to descent or marriage and find a different form of belongership to our island nation. Any grants outside of that need to be looked at very carefully to ensure that we leave something for the next generation.”
Calling for a more balanced approach to immigration, Bush indicated that the government should be more careful with permit applications because the Cayman Islands cannot accommodate everyone.
Bush said the country must do a better job of building institutions that will serve, protect and prepare the people of the Cayman Islands for the challenges that they are now facing and will continue to face.
“We need to put our differences aside, live better with each other, and rebuild a community that creates opportunity for our people where we can once again share and care for each other,” Cayman’s longest-serving political representative added.
- Fascinated
- Happy
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- Bored
- Afraid
Bush has a point about integration, but the Govt has not changed its immigration or schooling policies for many years. Until it does, his comments mean nothing beyond looking for votes.
As most Caymanians (incl status holders) consider immigration to be somewhat out of control these days, its ironic that neither the current Govt, or the last one, or the one before that, have taken any action to tighten it. Why is that?
Conclusion: its election time, with much similar spouting off to follow.
I only want nothing to do with Bayers
Bush trying to unring his own bell. SMH
I’ve been living in the Cayman Islands for nearly 20 years now. I’ve even received community awards and was honored on National Heroes Day, and I truly love Cayman and its culture. But it hasn’t been easy. Coming here without speaking the language, I made a point to learn it and respect the country and its people—something not all expats do. But no matter how long I’m here, there’s still this wall. I’m a “paper Caymanian” and know I’ll never fully belong, but I don’t fit in back home anymore, either.
Sometimes, it’s tough dealing with the hostility. I’ve gotten racial comments and side eyes just for showing up at local spots like Corner Restaurant or Blue Marlin. Once, at the old Bus Side restaurant, someone called out, “Look, white boy ordering in a Black people’s place…must be lost.” I’d already been here 15 years by then!
I’ve built my life here and most of my close friends are generational Caymanians. I get why locals might be wary; a lot of expats are just here to take advantage, and maybe the resistance is a defense mechanism. But for those of us who truly call Cayman home, feeling like an outsider after all this time…it’s hard. Acceptance can still be hard to come by, and I still feel that resistance.
McWasteman STFU.
mac, we won’t apologise for coming here with our first world views and educational standards and then questioning the daily nonsense of ‘caymankind’
Translation: Come and be a faithful servant, give Caymanians 60% of everything you make, be thankful for the opportunity or leave. And than they complain that it is all Jamaicans staying on island
maybe all expats should be like caymanian mla’s…..woman beaters, drug dealers, cheats, liars……etc?
yawn…just a populist empty nationalistic soundbite…
hahahah…too late mac. we didn’t come to take part, we came to take over…..job soon done bobo!
What his definition of an expat is?
A work permit holder?
A status holder?
A “paper” Caymanian?
How many family members of the thousands of people he gave status to are now Caymanian? 10 thousand? More? How many of them are on NAU?
What a joke! How do you expect all these expats living in the gated communities…I don’t need to name them….to mix with Caymanians, only a very tiny percentage of whom can afford to live in such houses in such places. A “them and us” Cayman was created long ago when the money flowed in and the developers were allowed to do what they wanted and no one had more to do with all that than Bush did. So please…..
Mac – why did you grant status to people who did not even live here?
What criminal background checks were done on recipients?
Did any of your clients get status?
Just asking.
Until the government takes over education in Cayman, we will be doomed to segregation. How can you expect my child to play well in a social environment with other nationalities if he has consistently been deprived of exposure until he goes to college? However, he is consistently exposed to our neighbor’s island culture and influence for several reasons. Tell me once again why scroll segregation is ok.
Government is in charge of public education, thus the problem. Don’t mess with private education.
say it again for the Premier!
Bush tells expats to integrate, while blaming them solely on all Cayman’s problems.
So historically familiar
These new expat women complain after being sexually assaulted, it’s so Un Caymanian
Kinda LATE there sir.
Did you message the thousands that got it FREELY thru you years ago??!!
It’s election time. Every election candidates blame expats for the country’s problems.
The thing is ‘Honourable Bush, when they do integrate with you, you beat them up, which one is it ?
what a f***ing moron, Mr ‘Status Grants’…
Crooked Caymanians need to evolve from the “you need me more than I need you” attitude of the past, and join a world rapidly incorporating transparency and prioritising law abidance. Xenophobia has no place in that world, and it’s certainly not going to earn an invitation to the expat cocktail parties McKeeva used to muscle his way into. Cayman needs to reject this man, and any like them. They are echoes of a revolting past.
I dislike Bush but this is the smartest and most insightful thing he has ever said. Lots of expats on our shores that have close to no caymanian born friends.
What a load of baloney. For 2003 professional expats, including those who had only been in Cayman for a couple years, with the right lawyer channel, you could pay him $10,000 to his own account or foundation, or if a pretty sushi club waitress, who knows what horrors of quid pro quo. Everyone who was a partner or partner track got on his magic list, many that would later be surprised to learn they had been added.
100%, I remember getting the call, I refused and did it the right way and saved $10K!
Partner track? I will raise you some grand court judges and an attorney-general.
The man had such vision. His foresight is incredible. He should work in recruitment if he does not get re-elected.
they come here from jam and still want to behave like theyre still there. agree mac.