Revised immigration law must be ‘grounded in realities’
(CNS): The public consultation on the draft discussion paper outlining the changes the UPM minority administration wants to make to the current immigration law is open. However, the document is already being criticised for its significant inadequacies and the obvious problems some of the proposed changes will create without solving the existing fundamental flaws in the law.
Border Control Minister Dwayne Seymour told parliament on Monday that consultation with the public would “help ensure that we craft policies that are balanced, inclusive and grounded in realities of those who live and work here”.
The public consultation process was launched on Friday when Seymour first laid the document in parliament. However, although the minister attempted several times to speak about the document at that time, he didn’t manage to do so.
Instead, on Monday, when parliament resumed, he made a brief statement about the document in which he spoke about the concerns the current immigration regime has fuelled relating to social integration, cultural issues, capacity and existing infrastructure.
“Government must ensure that the islands’ infrastructure can handle the increased demand brought on by a growing population,” Seymour stated. “This includes assessing whether current systems can support additional people without overburdening them and whether new investment is needed to expand or upgrade facilities and services.
“Failing to account for the pressures on infrastructure can lead to overcrowded schools, traffic congestion, insufficient healthcare services, and housing shortages, all of which can undermine social stability and economic growth.”
To deal with the shifting needs of a growing population, the government must ensure that the needs of both the existing residents and expatriates are met, he said. Immigration legislation must evolve to strike a balance between effective migration management and protecting Caymanian interests.
Historically, that balance has proved elusive, given the huge difference between what employers want and what the native Caymanian population wants. There is widespread belief that the balance is tilted in favour of employers and the wealthier members of the community.
This has led to a population where expatriates outnumber locals and the importation of poverty. It has also caused the loss of local culture and the natural environment, which was once a defining symbol of the islands. Some believe that raising the minimum wage to a livable wage would do much to address this imbalance — something that Seymour, as labour minister, failed to do.
The Ministry of Border Control, Labour and Culture has been working on amendments to the Immigration (Transition) Act since Cabinet gave approval for drafting instructions in May 2024.
However, efforts to address the Cayman Islands’ enduring immigration conundrum have lasted decades. Most administrations have taken a stab at addressing the multitude of problems with the law, but to date, none of the changes have succeeded in that goal or made much impact on the far-reaching social implications of the two sides of this issue.
See Minister Seymour’s successful delivery of his address on Monday, following his failed attampt on Friday, on CIGTV below:
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Ah yes, the final punchline in this grand cosmic joke—the very people being bled dry by corruption and bureaucratic lunacy have somehow convinced themselves that it is the law-abiding, tax-paying residents who are the true parasites!
The Great Genestealer Paradox
Let’s break this down:
1. We navigate endless red tape just to exist legally.
2. We pay taxes, fees, and endure absurd regulatory hurdles.
3. We contribute to the economy, employ people, and try (foolishly) to follow the rules.
4. Meanwhile, the ones looting the system, plundering public funds, and turning the roads into a literal deathtrap are… the ones calling us parasites.
Oh, the irony drips like Tyranid bio-acid! Because if anyone is behaving like a Genestealer cult, it’s the very people who:
• Refuse any accountability from their own ruling class.
• Blindly defend the actions of leaders who actively exploit them.
• Turn against the very people keeping the system afloat.
In true Hive Mind fashion, they chant the same tired slogans about how “foreigners are taking over”—all while their elected “patriots” are selling off their land, gutting environmental protections, and ensuring that their children will inherit a flaming wreck of an island.
Meanwhile, what do the so-called Genestealers actually do?
✔ Follow the law.
✔ Create businesses and jobs.
✔ Inject money into the economy.
✔ Attempt to introduce basic concepts like ‘functional infrastructure’ and ‘not driving like an Ork on a Waaagh!’
If Cayman really had a Genestealer infestation, the roads wouldn’t be a demolition derby, public services wouldn’t be collapsing, and crime wouldn’t be spiraling out of control. A Genestealer hive would at least run things efficiently.
No, my dear citizens, the truth is far worse. Cayman isn’t suffering from a Genestealer Cult infestation—it’s suffering from Ork Governance™, where everything is loud, violent, and stupid, but somehow keeps limping along despite itself.
So let them call us Genestealers! Because at this rate, the real infestation—the parasitic ruling class—will devour everything long before any xenos even get a chance.
If only Dwayne was grounded in reality
Will there be separate lines at the airport for the different kinds of Caymanians? As a Native Caymanian, I expect that there will be an express no duty line straight to the car park.
MPs do not write these bills or laws — they only read them, as spokespersons for their ministry. We need to read this paper, as bulky and convoluted as it is, and submit our input. The withdrawal of the NCA proved that the effort pays, so let’s work on it. Let’s do our part as registered voters.
The work permit laws should apply to the government employees. Rollover too.
Let each government entity have to make a case for every expat they wish to employ and then lose them to rollover every few years.
I agree wholeheartedly. Its ridiculous that this has not been looked into as yet. So many jobs in the core civil service held by expats that Caymanians could hold. And lets not get started on the ability for them to send their children for free to our already overcrowded government schools. As well as their spouses not needing a work permit either. I could keep going.
Good lord, CIG is inefficient enough already without expelling the expats who actually do all the work!
Don’t get it twisted. There are many many hard working Caymanians in CIG. many having to provide support and having more on their plate than their expat bosses.
The comment section on CNS and Fox News is getting me very close to not needing Netflix anymore.
jon-jon…a one man advertisement for direct rule.
the reality is cayman has nowhere near enough qualified or motivated people to do the jobs required.
don’t hold the country back because its local population is poorly educated and too lazy to work hard.
So now it is students’ fault through the years, that the curriculum is crappy? Do you know how much parents have fought for better education since the 80s?! Cow dung comment.
“…Do you know how much parents have fought for better education since the 80s?”..
And yet the same people keep getting voted into office…
The commentor at 11:20 am correctly stated that the:
“local population is poorly educated”.
He did not say, as you assert at 3:49 pm, that:
“it is students’ fault through the years, that the curriculum is crappy?”
Plainly it is not the students’ fault. It is Roy Bodden’s fault for replacing First World qualifications with ‘Caribbeanisation’ in the form of CXC. Until Caymanians kids are qualifying at the same – or, preferably better – rates as expat kids, they’re simply unemployable in professional services jobs.
The obvious – and I mean incredibly obvious – start point is to ditch the garbage CXC qualifications, and third world teachers, and switch to internationally-recognised qualifications and Western teachers from first world countries.
This is the fault of Caymanian MLAs, elected by Caymanian voters. Not expats.
And I reiterate, that many parents have fought to improve the situation; the problem is that too many voters are content to just drop a ballot in a box and let the elected MPs come up with solutions. Who knows the challenges better than vested parents who are continuously raising the issue with DES to no avail? It is therefore not a fair statement that people “are lazy”; likewise, the HSA has a Caymanian molecular biologist, Jonathan Smellie, and we recently heard from a Caymanian with a PHD in Environmental Science, so not all people are “poorly educated”. We can all get along, with a little respect…
We are mostly poorly educated.
In fact, to refer to many of our graduated students as educated is an affront to the concept of modern education.
There are exceptions. Brilliant young young people who succeed at the highest levels despite the barriers our systems and their classmates place in their way – but the overwhelming majority are being spat out by a failed system, in no position to compete with most of those graduating from the private schools.
This.
This should be the target of people’s anger.
Not falling for the corrupt demagogues who try to seduce people into believing that expats are the devil.
Replace the politicians and then replace the CXC exams and get decent teachers.
The original comment could have ben worded better (I didn’t write it), but the first part is certainly true:
“The reality is [that] Cayman has nowhere near enough qualified or motivated people to do the jobs required.”
And the second part could be fixed by simply substituting the word OR for the word AND:
“Don’t hold the country back because its local population is poorly educated [or] too lazy to work hard.”
i.e. Many people are poorly educated, and as you correctly note, it’s not their fault. Some, however, are lazy. That’s to be expected in any population, so that’s not besmirching Caymanians as a class; rather, it’s merely reflecting the variety of people in any population.
The obvious, fixable, point here however is the cessation of the CXC syllabus and accompanying third world teachers.
Actually 11:56 the move to CXC was spearheaded by Oswell Rankine, principle secretary working in a Portfolio (H.E.S.S.) (not named ministry at the time) under the Member Benson Ebanks. As a reason for getting rid of O levels set and administered by England, Mr Rankine used to state that he wanted to recapture Cayman for the Caribbean. But it is true Roy wanted “local” meaning West Indian teachers rather than British ones. The truth is there were and are very good teachers and bad in both these categories. CXC is not “garbage”.
Former High School PTA member.
You’re probably correct that CXC has the potential to be OK.
Sadly, however, it is neither recognised nor respected internationally. In that respect therefore, it is “distinctly suboptimal”, to put it politely, and arguments for its cessation and replacement deserve to be carefully considered. Caymanians’ children’s futures are currently being squandered.
I’m not the original poster but are you saying that an exam being sat by students in nearly all the Caribbean islands is, after all these years of its existence, “neither recognised nor respected internationally”? Can you substantiate this claim? I’m not saying you’re wrong, just want some facts to go on.
I’m suggesting that:
1. CXC doesn’t carry anywhere near the same gravitas as, for example, the International Baccalaureate.
2. The only people who are trained in CXC are from the Caribbean, which has an atrocious record of educational achievement, and therefore the teaching staff are suboptimal.
3. What parents select when they’re paying for education is illuminating. Private schools don’t touch CXC with a bargepole. Cayman International School (CIS), for instance, provides the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), which is recognized globally for its rigorous curriculum and holistic approach to education. The polite answer is something politically correct like, “The choice between CXC and IB programs often reflects the institution’s educational philosophy, target student demographics, and the academic pathways they wish to offer. Public schools typically adopt the CXC curriculum to align with regional educational standards and to provide students with qualifications recognised within the Caribbean. In contrast, private schools like CIS may opt for the IB program to attract a diverse student body seeking an internationally recognised qualification that facilitates global university admissions.” The truth however is that the IB is simply a better qualification, taught by better people, resulting in a better future for the children who are taught it.
4. Look at the educational results: they speak for themselves!
I may be wrong, but something is clearly VERY wrong with the current public schools, and CXC/Caribbean teachers seem as likely a root cause as another other.
CNS: You are so very wrong about so many things. Discussing how to improve education is a good thing but it would help if you had some idea of what you’re talking about, which you don’t.
Students in Cayman and in the UK take external exams at the end of Year 11, which is the end of key stage 4. Here, these are mostly CXC, though at least when my kids were in school, there were also some GCSEs or various other board examinations.
After they take CXCs or GCSEs and they want and are able to continue their academic education, they go on to do A levels or IB diplomas. Comparing CXC and IB is just nonsense. They are different academic levels. If you want to understand the difference between IB and A levels, I found this primer for you.
Year 12 is compulsory for kids here, but the government schools do not offer A levels or IB. There is CIFEC where kids can resit exams or take vocational courses. The other choices on offer are to go to one of the private schools for further studies, which the government will pay for, or go to UCCI to start an associates degree – a good choice if they intend to go to university in the US – or they can go on to a school abroad.
One of my children went to the UK to do A levels at a very good sixth form college. His CXCs were accepted by the college as the equivalent of GCSEs with absolutely no problem. Universities will be looking at A level results – or IBs – not so much what qualifications you got before that.
I’m probably not the only one who gets really irritated by the constant bashing of Caribbean teachers, or the even more disgustingly derogatory “third world teachers”. Many are excellent, dedicated, even gifted educators who work tirelessly in their job. I can think of more than a few that my kids were lucky enough to have in the classroom.
Similarly, many teachers from the UK or the US or Canada or wherever are great. And some from wherever you look are bad teachers.
The problem is not where the teachers are from.
I offer the caveat that I haven’t had any kids in government schools for more than a decade, but from the days when I did, one of the biggest issues was HR and the whole recruitment process, which was a mess. An efficient HR process would have resulted in more of the better teachers coming and more of them staying.
I’m stressing here that there are real problems in education, but banging on about bullshit is really not helping.
And remember, racism is always rooted in ignorance.
Thank you CNS for answering the, shall we say generously, erroneous views of 9:14. For what it is worth, CXC results are accepted at tertiary institutions in America, Canada and Britain so they have international currency. What the hell he or she means in this context by “gravitas” only God knows. It sounds a very lawyerly pompous statement…..
Thank you CNS for bringing logic and accuracy to this discussion.
This is perfectly encapsulated when discussing local politicians, too!
Let me tell you something you tan a yah yard for a job! We don’t need you here!
Amusingly, this illiterate, unintelligible screed perfectly encapsulates why you are unemployable and utterly dependant on hard-working expats to pay work permit fees and stamp duty to subsidise CIG, the NAU and the World Clown Civil Service.
Back in your box, parasite. Thank us for being here, then be silent.
PS I’m unable to resist asking: what actually is this wretch of a human being attempting to communicate? Would someone please translate it to English. Many thanks.
In English (if you are capable of it), please?
Two other people have asked this, but no one has answered them. Would someone please translate this:
“Let me tell you something you tan a yah yard for a job”
The sentence appears to be written in Caribbean English/Patwa (Patois), commonly spoken in the Cayman Islands and Jamaica (particularly since Mac’s mass status grant). Here’s the translation into English:
“Let me tell you something: stay in your own country for a job! We don’t need you here!”
Breakdown of the Translation:
• “Let me tell you something” → Direct statement, often used to emphasize purported authority or personal opinion.
• “You tan a yah yard” → “You stay in your yard” (meaning stay in your own country/home).
• “For a job!” → Implying don’t come here looking for work.
• “We don’t need you here!” → A clear statement rejecting the presence of the addressed person, likely referring to foreign workers or expats.
Context and Tone:
• The phrase is confrontational and nationalistic, directed at better educated and more eloquent expatriates working in the Cayman Islands (ie almost all of them).
• “Tan a yah yard” is a common Caribbean phrase meaning “stay in your place”, often used to criticize people outside of a tiny, inbred minority.
• Given the context of Caymanian politics, it reflects anti-expat sentiment related to jobs and immigration. The sentiment is likely borne of jealousy, as the author is plainly unemployable in any job requiring even the most basic of communications skills.
Sad.
ok expat if you say so
where is the blood test investigation results? ZZZZZZ
Several previouslly published comments that were inspiring actual debate about these changes were deleted overnight, what gives CNS ?
CNS: No comments were deleted. You’re not looking in the right place. Maybe you’re confused with this article on the same issue.
I think they published this paper knowing damn well it’s garbage just so that the public can comment and craft it how they’d prefer and absolve the government from doing its job.
I think there’s an important note to make regarding this article talking about the conflicting interests between employers and native Caymanians. Virtually all Caymanians are either employers or employees by definition. The only ones who don’t fall into one or both of those boxes are the few who remain unemployed.
And we can go back and forth on the specifics forever but the reality is employer and employee interests are not as divergent as they used to be. This isn’t 1900 anymore. I’m an employee. But I want my boss (the employer) to make plenty of money so that he keeps me employed, maybe gets me a raise, helps things stay stable etc.
Any pain that’s inflicted on the employers ALWAYS trickles down to employees.
The interests of employers and native Caymanians are inextricably linked. Not directly linear, but linked. You cannot adjust one without impacting the other.
“Failing to account for the pressures on infrastructure can lead to overcrowded schools, traffic congestion, insufficient healthcare services, and housing shortages…”
Can lead???? I think you mean, “has led to…”.
Imbecile.
Living like sardines in a barrel leads to physical and mental decline. Parks are essential for people to thrive. Uncrowded beaches are essential for Cayman residents to thrive. It seems that in Cayman everyone dies from CVD, cancer and complications from diabetes. People need shaded trails to walk on. Swimming must be easily available for Cayman residents. Sharing SMB with visitors leaves no room for Caymanians.
Shut down cruise tourism entirely, and stop overnight tourism growing any further.
Your politicians are selling your land out from under your feet.
Cruise tourism has destroyed the public beach and Cayman’s uncrowded charm .
Piers would make it worse just so shops ( owned by foreign investors) can sell more tat and Tshirts.
Be fair. He didn’t write it, probably doesnt even understand it – just a sock puppet.
Are They Blind Deaf And Dumb???
This Place zis Already Overburdened With Everything You Can Think Of….3 Cars Per Person 🤔
One car or ten cars makes no difference… you can only drive one at a time…
“Revised immigration law must be ‘grounded in realities’”
How can this be achieved when the vast majority of politicians, senior civil service executives and board members have absolutely no grounding in reality whatsoever?
Again: we, voters, are an absentee Board of Directors.
We need to come together to analyze our national problems in dollars and cents, in order to take objective decisions. For example: of the 3% Caymanians unemployed, how many are simply unemployable? Of the remaining number, how many can replace work permit holders to the same performance level or higher? Based on that answer, can we afford to decrease WP revenue by decreasing work permits, in order to place them in the labor force? When it comes to national issues, it is not enough to say, “just do this”, because for every action there’s a reaction that impacts both our people, and the national revenue. Sadly, until we start doing so, we will not be able to effectively lobby law makers for meaningful (policy) changes.
The likelihood of Cayman facing a major economic crisis due to self-inflicted policy failures combined with external pressures like U.S. corporate tax cuts is alarmingly high—and growing by the day.
Why the U.S. Corporate Tax Cuts Spell Disaster for Cayman
1️⃣ Direct Competition for Businesses
• If the U.S. lowers corporate taxes significantly, multinational companies and financial firms currently incorporated in Cayman will have less incentive to remain offshore.
• With stable governance, a massive market, and no reputational risks, relocating to the U.S. becomes an attractive option.
• Cayman’s entire financial model depends on being a better deal than anywhere else—if that changes, expect a mass exodus of businesses.
2️⃣ Global Tax Crackdowns (OECD + U.S.)
• The OECD’s Global Minimum Tax is already forcing offshore jurisdictions to adapt.
• If the U.S. tightens regulations on tax havens at the same time as offering better domestic tax rates, why would companies stay in Cayman?
• Cayman has no economic diversity—it depends almost entirely on financial services. If that sector shrinks, there’s no fallback.
3️⃣ Government Policy Failures Make It Worse
• Restrictive immigration laws? Kills the workforce.
• New taxation? Chases away businesses.
• Development & infrastructure stagnation? Destroys investor confidence.
• The Cayman Islands isn’t just failing to adapt—it’s actively making itself less competitive.
4️⃣ Real Estate Bubble Collapse
• The local property market is grossly overvalued, fueled by foreign investment and speculation.
• If businesses start leaving, wealthy foreign buyers won’t invest, property values will collapse, and Caymanians who borrowed heavily to enter the market will lose everything.
• This happened in the Bahamas, Barbados, and Bermuda, and the pattern is clear: a financial downturn leads to an economic death spiral.
Probability of Economic Collapse?
🚨 HIGH – 60-70% over the next 3-5 years if no serious intervention occurs.
🔥 CRITICAL – 80%+ if U.S. corporate tax cuts happen and Cayman doesn’t reverse course.
When Will the People Realize?
Likely too late.
By the time the cracks appear—fewer jobs, business closures, plummeting property values—the damage will already be irreversible.
At that point, the UK may be forced to intervene, not as a political maneuver, but as a rescue mission to prevent total economic collapse.
The UPM and PPM are playing with fire, and the worst part?
They don’t even seem to realize it.
Your assumption is that US corporate tax cuts will automatically attract new investment into the US. Given the political storm brewing in the US – and its potential geopolitical implications – I wouldn’t be so sure of that.These are very unpredictable times in the US and I’ve never known investment to flock to unpredictability,
Companies will not give two hoots about who is in office if they can save 15% on tax.
Maybe if your company is nothing but a tax haven, or your only clients are domestic. Most companies want to make a profit and if the geopolitical situation swings to a place where doing business with an American company is not seen as profitable (and take a look around what is happening in that regard right now) then saving tax at the expense of losing revenue is not a good play.
Companies want political stability, not a president that goes off his meds every 24 hours.
Point 2 – GMT is dead without US participation and Trump has threatened retaliatory tariffs if countries try and impose GMT on US firms.
🚨 PROBABILITIES OF UK INTERVENTION GIVEN A NEW GOVERNOR 🚨
With a new governor arriving soon, the probability of UK intervention now depends on three key factors:
1️⃣ How much authority the new governor is given by the FCDO (UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office).
2️⃣ How quickly Cayman’s government deteriorates or resists corrective measures.
3️⃣ Whether public backlash and economic instability force the UK to act.
🔮 UK INTERVENTION PROBABILITY MATRIX (2025-2026)
Scenario Probability Timeframe Triggers
Soft UK Oversight (Governor-led intervention) 65-75% 6-12 months Governor orders direct audits, issues warnings, blocks reckless policies, and forces legislative reforms.
Financial Oversight (UK Economic Intervention) 50-60% 12-24 months UK mandates stricter fiscal controls, limits government borrowing, imposes oversight committees on budgeting & public spending.
Suspension of Government (Turks & Caicos 2.0) 35-45% 18-36 months Evidence of high-level corruption, economic collapse, or severe public unrest prompts UK to dissolve Parliament & take full control.
🚨 KEY FACTORS DRIVING INTERVENTION
🔴 UPM/PPM’s Unchecked Power Grab
✔ Ignoring public opposition & pushing dangerous policies (cruise port, taxation, conservation rollbacks).
✔ Blocking transparency & refusing accountability.
🔴 Financial Instability & Rising UK Concerns
✔ Proposed taxation schemes signal a collapsing financial model.
✔ Lack of fiscal discipline and mismanagement of government revenue.
✔ If Cayman loses investor confidence, UK will step in to stabilize.
🔴 Public Resistance & International Scrutiny
✔ Widespread protests, media coverage, and diplomatic pressure accelerate UK oversight.
✔ If Caymanians publicly call for UK intervention (as TCI residents did in 2009), the UK will act faster.
⏳ TIMEFRAME TO INTERVENTION UNDER NEW GOVERNOR
🔹 0-6 months – Governor assesses the situation, sends reports to London.
🔹 6-12 months – Governor likely takes corrective measures (blocking harmful laws, increasing UK oversight).
🔹 12-24 months – If the government continues its reckless path, UK financial oversight begins.
🔹 24-36 months – If full collapse occurs (corruption scandals, economic crisis, or riots), UK dissolves the government.
🔥 FINAL ASSESSMENT: UK INTERVENTION IS NOW A HIGH PROBABILITY EVENT
If UPM/PPM keep pushing Cayman toward financial, legal, and governance failure, intervention is no longer “if”—it is “when.”
The new governor is Cayman’s last off-ramp before full-scale UK intervention. If they fail to restore credibility and governance, the UK will step in directly within 1-3 years.
CASE STUDY AND CAUTIONARY TALE : THE BAHAMAS.
The Bahamas’ economic decline was accelerated by restrictive immigration policies, particularly in the financial sector. Here’s a comparison of how similar policies could impact the Cayman Islands:
1. Financial Sector Contraction
• The Bahamas: In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Bahamian government tightened work permit regulations and imposed stricter requirements for expatriate financial professionals. This led to:
• A talent drain, as global firms relocated their operations to more flexible jurisdictions like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.
• Loss of international clients, as financial firms struggled to provide the expertise required to maintain offshore financial services competitiveness.
• Diminished economic growth, with GDP contracting due to declining financial sector contributions.
• Cayman Islands: If similar policies are enacted—such as forcing work permit holders to leave for a year before changing employers and restricting PR eligibility—the impact could be:
• Exodus of financial professionals, leading to a loss of institutional knowledge and expertise.
• International financial firms moving operations elsewhere, particularly to jurisdictions with more favorable policies like Bermuda, the BVI, and Singapore.
• Deterioration of global reputation, as rigid policies make Cayman less attractive for financial services, a key pillar of the economy.
2. Declining Foreign Investment
• The Bahamas: As restrictions on foreign workers increased, major financial firms relocated, taking their capital investments with them. The country struggled to attract new investors due to unpredictable regulatory shifts.
• Cayman Islands: The introduction of overly restrictive immigration policies may cause investors to view Cayman as unstable, leading to:
• Reduced foreign direct investment, especially in high-skilled sectors like fintech and wealth management.
• Property market stagnation, as wealthy expatriates reconsider settling in Cayman due to visa and residency uncertainties.
• Weaker economic diversification efforts, as restrictive policies deter skilled foreign entrepreneurs from establishing new businesses.
3. Impact on Tourism and Hospitality
• The Bahamas: The tourism industry suffered when labor shortages emerged due to work permit restrictions, leading to:
• Declining service quality, impacting visitor satisfaction and return rates.
• Increased costs for businesses, as fewer skilled workers meant paying higher wages for untrained replacements.
• Cayman Islands: With tourism being a major industry, similar policies could result in:
• Fewer hospitality workers, leading to declining service standards.
• Higher operational costs, as businesses struggle to find replacements and may have to increase wages unsustainably.
• A loss of competitiveness against regional rivals like The Bahamas and the Dominican Republic, where labor policies are more flexible.
4. Socioeconomic Decline
• The Bahamas: As the financial and tourism sectors shrank, unemployment rose, government revenues declined, and the country faced:
• Increased reliance on public welfare due to job losses.
• Higher taxation, as the government attempted to make up for lost revenue.
• Political instability, as dissatisfaction with economic policies fueled unrest.
• Cayman Islands: Without careful planning, restrictive immigration policies could:
• Shrink the economy, forcing tax hikes to maintain government services.
• Reduce employment opportunities, particularly in industries reliant on foreign expertise.
• Create an unsustainable public sector, as the government struggles to maintain services amid declining revenues.
Final Verdict: A Warning for Cayman
The Bahamas serves as a cautionary tale—restrictive immigration policies can have devastating long-term consequences. If Cayman follows the same path, it risks:
• Driving away financial and tourism sector talent.
• Losing international investment and credibility.
• Weakening its economy, leading to lower wages and higher taxes.
• Pushing the UK toward direct intervention if economic collapse seems imminent.
If history is any indicator, tightening immigration in a globalized, service-based economy is a surefire way to accelerate decline. The Cayman Islands must choose between proactive, balanced policy-making or repeating The Bahamas’ mistakes and facing economic fallout.
Correct on the warning of the Bahamas being an example of what not to do, and correct about the general trend of Caymanian politics.
Incorrect about the UK’s ability/inclination to intervene. The UK can’t/won’t do anything. XXXX
CNS: Perhaps try and make your point without insulting Caymanians as a whole (which, in case you weren’t sure, is racism). It detracts from what you are trying to say if you come across as being a twat. There is a wide range of personalities and opinions in the local population, just as there is wherever you come from. Also, it isn’t just local reaction that makes the UK reluctant to intervene. There is the matter of cost, which they have to justify to UK voters.
We know this because in both Turks & Caicos (2009) and the British Virgin Islands (BVI, 2018), corruption scandals and financial mismanagement led to the UK government intervening. In the Turks & Caicos, a corruption inquiry revealed widespread abuse of power, prompting the UK to suspend local government and rule directly. In the BVI, a U.S. investigation uncovered corruption within the local government, leading to the UK imposing direct oversight.
Locals in both territories expressed outrage, whinging that the interventions were a continuation of colonial control, and criticising the UK’s actions as paternalistic and undermining their autonomy.
Indeed, when the UK intervened in Turks, Cayman’s very own Orett Connor with lawyer Steve McField bitched about it: exactly the predictable anti-First World, “colonial this, colonial that” stuff. This was on their morning show, on the taxpayer-funded Radio Cayman.
Caymanians have the politicians you elect and thus deserve. You clearly all deeply loathe your own children and grandchildren, because said politicians are condemning them to intergenerational poverty and immiseration.
🚨 BREAKING: CAYMAN GOVERNMENT DECLARES WAR ON LOGIC 🚨
💀 NEW IMMIGRATION POLICY UNLEASHED – MAY THE STRONGEST PAPERWORK SURVIVE! 💀
Brought to you by the Secretary to the Ambassador of Absurdistan, because no one else has the patience to sift through this bureaucratic black hole.
📜 OFFICIAL DECREE FROM THE OFFICE OF ABSURDISTAN 📜
RE: THE IMMIGRATION REFORMS – A MASTERCLASS IN POLICY-INDUCED MIGRAINES
Esteemed Citizens, Overworked Employers, and Desperate Immigration Applicants,
The Cayman Islands government has once again gifted us a legislative gem so incomprehensible that it threatens to collapse under its own contradictions.
💀 CURRENT STATUS: CODE RED FOR BUREAUCRATIC MALPRACTICE 💀
✔ Employers are pleading for workers who actually show up.
✔ The government is adding 14 new layers of red tape instead.
✔ The system is now so convoluted, even the bureaucrats processing the applications don’t understand the rules.
🚨 WARNING: READING THIS MAY CAUSE A FULL-SCALE MELTDOWN. 🚨
THE IMMIGRATION MAZE™ – ENTER IF YOU DARE
🛑 STEP 1: FIND A CAYMANIAN WORKER (SPOILER: GOOD LUCK)
✔ Employers must first prove beyond all shadow of a doubt that no Caymanian exists who wants the job.
✔ This requires:
✔ A classified ad in an ancient scroll format.
✔ At least three carrier pigeons delivering notices to every district.
✔ A government-appointed oracle to divine job availability using bones and tea leaves.
✔ After four months of searching and still no applicants? … REPEAT THE PROCESS.
🛑 STEP 2: APPLY FOR A WORK PERMIT – AND THEN IMMEDIATELY REGRET IT
✔ Employers must submit a 94-page application that includes:
✔ A full genealogical history of the applicant dating back 200 years.
✔ A notarized statement of intent to pay through the nose.
✔ An offering to the gods of unnecessary regulation.
✔ After six months, receive a letter that says ‘Missing Documents’ (even though they weren’t required before).
✔ Resubmit everything in triplicate, using a parchment blessed by a certified government shaman.
🛑 STEP 3: SURVIVE THE PROCESSING BLACK HOLE
✔ Once submitted, your application will be:
✔ Reviewed by a committee of elders, who will deliberate for no less than 400 years.
✔ Lost in a mysterious filing cabinet, only to reappear when Mercury is in retrograde.
✔ Stuck in ‘Pending Review’ until the heat death of the universe.
✔ If approved, congratulations! Your work permit will last six months before requiring the same process all over again.
🔥 TOP 3 REASONS WHY THIS SYSTEM IS COMPLETELY INSANE 🔥
1️⃣ NO ONE WANTS THE JOBS THEY’RE ‘PROTECTING’
✔ The government wants to prioritize local workers—except… those workers don’t exist.
✔ Caymanians who can fill these jobs already have better ones.
✔ The government refuses to acknowledge this and instead blames employers for not ‘trying hard enough’ to find workers.
2️⃣ THE “FAIRNESS” SHAM
✔ The system is designed to be ‘fair’ to locals and expats.
✔ But also, Caymanians get priority.
✔ But also, employers must prove Caymanians won’t take the job.
✔ But also, if an expat gets the job, the employer must prove that they’re ‘not too good’ at it.
✔ No one understands what’s happening anymore.
3️⃣ PAPERWORK > ECONOMIC GROWTH
✔ The Cayman economy desperately needs workers.
✔ The government is actively strangling businesses with regulations.
✔ Solution? More paperwork!
✔ Next step? Perhaps mandatory blood sacrifice to the Immigration Department?
🚨 THE OFFICIAL ABSURDISTANI SOLUTIONS TO THIS CRISIS 🚨
Since logic has been permanently banned from the Cayman government, the Ambassador to Absurdistan proposes the following bold reforms:
🔴 OPTION 1: THE ‘EMPLOYMENT HUNGER GAMES’
✔ Every month, unemployed Caymanians and employers enter an arena.
✔ If a Caymanian can defeat the employer in combat, they automatically get the job.
✔ If no Caymanian appears for the fight, the work permit is approved.
🔴 OPTION 2: THE 6-MONTH ‘IMMIGRATION SURVIVAL CHALLENGE’
✔ Employers must navigate a labyrinth of government offices, solve riddles, and defeat the Minotaur of Bureaucratic Red Tape.
✔ Work permits can only be approved if a panel of judges is moved to tears by the employer’s suffering.
🔴 OPTION 3: THE ‘SHOW UP TO WORK’ VISA
✔ Instead of proving a Caymanian won’t take the job,
✔ Instead of paying insane permit fees,
✔ Instead of waiting six months for an answer,
✔ We just let people work if they can prove they will actually show up.
(But of course, this is too simple, too logical, and thus entirely unacceptable.)
🔥 THE FINAL VERDICT: A NATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT 🔥
🚨 This policy is so bad that:
✔ Even Necrons have suffered software crashes trying to process it.
✔ Tyranids are considering devouring the entire government just to end the madness.
✔ Even Vogon bureaucrats are impressed by the sheer, unrelenting absurdity.
📜 POST SCRIPTUM: ESRB RATING – IMMIGRATION EDITION
💀 ESRB RATING: M for MIND-NUMBING MADNESS 💀
✔ Strong Bureaucratic Nonsense
✔ Excessive Paperwork Gore
✔ Severe Logic Deficiency
✔ Frequent Government Flip-Flopping
✔ Over-the-Top Satirical Ridicule
✔ Hopelessness-Inducing Decision-Making
🚨 WARNING: PROCEEDING FURTHER MAY CAUSE PERMANENT LOSS OF SANITY. 🚨
FINAL DISCLAIMER
✔ This satire is meant to highlight the insanity of the Cayman Islands’ immigration policies.
✔ Tragically, every single absurdity mentioned here is based on real frustrations.
✔ Any resemblance to real-world bureaucratic nightmares is purely intentional.
🚨 DO NOT ATTEMPT TO UNDERSTAND THIS POLICY USING LOGIC. 🚨
(Your brain will thank you.)
CAYMAN GOVERNMENT, LISTEN UP!
✔ Your economy needs workers.
✔ Your businesses need workers.
✔ Your immigration system is actively sabotaging both.
FIX IT. OR DON’T. BUT AT LEAST STOP PRETENDING THIS MAKES SENSE.
UK Intervention…. please
The UK can not even fix their own Brexit exit disaster or failing immigration policies that have caused riots in the UK.
Cayman government immigration policies; no matter how much they increase permit rates, have never deterred employers from finding workers or paying for them. As expat numbers increase every year.
The ONLY thing that will ever affect our economy directly is if we lose the value on our Cayman Currency which is the strength our economy drives on. That and being tax free.
The value on our Cayman currency? You mean the one pegged to the US dollar at a fixed rate? Which no one transacts in other than on island – not internationally traded? That one?
Absolutely hate scrolling past these bullshit comments driven by evident mental illness and masqueraded as “satire” with a level of humor drier than the Sahara.
I know you like to offer everyone a voice but it’s evidently annoying to anyone with a half a functional brain cell, and a massive skid mark on your comment section.
Dear troll 🧌, How glad am I you have popped up from under the shade of your bridge and decided, keyboard at your fingertips to express your voice !
You should know that you aren’t the first and we’ll won’t be the last to criticize or question the humor or the human behind the quips and I accept that , no one is perfect and I own my faults,
Nevertheless the present governance of the island leaves very much to be desired in both quality and substance and even more in clarity as to the ambition of its leadership and vision for the future of the island which we call home!
I am but a single person fighting against a tide of grim and dangerous policies that endanger fairness of process , constantly makes arbitrary decisions and shows outright corruption.
What have you done to stop any of this I wonder ? … I built a rogues’ garden not only to entertain, but to make people realize the nonsense and dangers we face in many aspects that make the island a wonderful place to live !
I don’t ask for thanks , I don’t play favorites and I certainly don’t spare people that just nod and say … nothing of substance.
Yours ,
The Adeptus Ridiculous,
Grogg the Ork
The Secretary to the Ambassador of Absurdistan
Claptrap’s Romantic Interest
And many others !
Post Scriptum:By all means keep scrolling past, your silence is how they win !!
Did they not anticipate significant population growth and need when they approved all the major hotels and developments to be built… They all require staffing and external services.
Anticipation requires intelligence, foresight and looking beyond your own personal immediate financial interests.
Case in point, constant work on the sewer lines on West Bay Road. The system is beyond maxed out.
They do not look past the 4yrs they have been given in office; hence why nothing ever gets done.
Please someone save us, this guy cannot get reelected again. I have never such idiocy in my short lifetime. If any BTE voters see this, WAKE TF UP, I also vote there too. Rally everyone you know who votes in our constituency to not vote for him, I am already doing my part. This guy has to go man!! He cannot be the representative of us ever again.
Vote for Robert Bodden! He came close last time, lets give him a chance, time for a new face in BTE, and i hear he has some young superstar advisors and campaigners working with him.
No one can shift Seymour with all that riff raff Caymanian and Jamaican support he has. No one.
Surely you’re not talking about the real estate agent who lives in Jamaica half the time.
What is more scary than any particular candidate or policy is the gullibility of the public and their willingness to be satisfied with talking points, rather than serious arguments.
Cayman needs mass deportation, its as simple as that. No More PR grants for 10 years, no more work permits for more than 5 Years. it a permit to work, not to come here and live and have kids etc.
Feeling empowered by the orange felon much?
Go for it and see UK step in one more time, like they always do when you play God a bit too much.
MAGA🇺🇸🗽!
These are very deliberate imported guest workers, hired at extra cost and time by Caymanian business owners, to run the place. Why aren’t they hiring your labour law sick day counting, xenophobic, customer-repelling personality? We can only wonder.
Yes we need to do just that. Get rid of these riff raff who are here on permits. You work permit holders, may I remind you. Your visitors in my home land. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Otherwise go back if where your from is so much better than Cayman. Oh the $$$ is why your still.here. Majority of foreigners in Cayman have no respect for Caymanians nor or culture or environment. Just 1 example, I see daily how our environment is impacted, with work permit holders,foreigners killing the juvenile fish and other marine life on our shore line in West Bay. Mass deportation is needed to balance this growth in our population. Caymanians must come first. Start by sending this clown a clear message. Vote him out period. Stupid, stupid he is.
Complete and utter disaster. Who is going to wait for a cleaner to come from a one year break? They are going to ruin the whole system, as poor as it is right now. Not to mention ‘big wigs’ mot being happy with all of this.
They were giving birth to some kind of reform to only come up with THIS?
Not to mention how much it costs for people to move here. Thousands and thousands for jobs that no one here wants to do. They won’t come if they have to leave for a year to change employer. That would just eat all of their savings.
Especially because so many get here for jobs and find out that the employer isn’t giving them full time hours!!
Everyone else rolling over has to take a one year break (I just completed my second rollover). It should apply to all… as it was before Mckeeva exempted domestic helpers.
Rollover already exists. What’s your point?
exemptions…
Rollover is pointless. What do you achieve by exiling some poor, hardworking Filipino domestic helper at great cost to her family? Caymanians aren’t going to suddenly discover a work ethic, and volunteer to do the job, are they?
It’s just pure, unrestrained sadistic xenophobia. Caymankind, my ass. Caymanc##ts, morelike.
Absolutely, tighten the limits on PR and status: the island is full. Stop anyone who has any credible risk of every being a burden on the taxpayer from getting PR, for example.
But arbitrarily disrupting employers with rollovers, for the sake of xenophobia is retarded. Typical for Caymanian politicians, but retarded nonetheless.
There is nothing arbitrary about term limits. They are the only mechanism to control how long someone will stay.
You dont understand the purpose. Its not to create a job opening for a Caymanian. Its to prevent the employee staying here long enough tobe anle to claim residence under human rights laws, irrespective of what Caymans rules are. And the maandatroy rollnover if tou change job is to further empower the employer – will prevent job hopping, which has nothing to do with creating a vacancy.
Thanks for clarifying.
I’ve addressed your first point here: https://caymannewsservice.com/2025/02/discussion-paper-details-new-caymanian-protection-act/#comment-674032
On your second point, “to further empower the employer […] prevent job hopping, which has nothing to do with creating a vacancy”. How is this (a) a legitimate policy objective; (b) not a recipe for abusive employers (such as many minimum wage=paying MLAs); and (c) utterly toxic to the financial services industry (and thus the Cayman economy, which is parasitic on said industry)?
This is really rich coming from a trollop that fuels his own businesses with cheap migrant labour. The reality is and always has been to provide zero or lacklustre means for your own people to become skilled in trades, hospitality and social and health care jobs whilst perpetuating the taking in of revenue from work permits for indentured servants and virtual slave labourers.
You’re a special kind of moronic, greedy, dumbfu*k.
Agreed, but do you know what trollop means?
trollop /ˈtrɒləp/ noun:
1. Archaic: A woman perceived as disreputable or promiscuous.
2. Modern Usage: A corpulent political figure who flagrantly peddles influence for personal gain, often seen waddling through the corridors of power with pockets bulging from dubious dealings.
Example: “The nation’s trust eroded as the electorate grew weary of the trollop’s incessant self-serving antics.”
Synonyms: political sellout, graft enthusiast, corruption connoisseur.
Etymology: Derived from the Middle English trollep, referring to a slovenly woman, now repurposed to describe male politicians of substantial girth and insatiable greed.
See also: Dwayne Seymour /dweɪn ˈsiːmɔːr/: A Caymanian politician whose tenure is emblematic of the trollop archetype, noted for his dismissive stance on environmental concerns and allegations of political mischief.
Realist, this is very witty and “scholarly”!! Love the phonetic pronunciation guide.
You are a great and wise leader Honorable Seymour. We always vote for you.
I am sure some of you are. Cayman’s finest.
The guy is a total idiot. Its going to be the death of the place if this goes through.
I would love to hear Dwayne Seymour tell us, in an unprepared moment with no civil servant’s notes to help him, what he understands the term “our cultural heritage” to mean.
Me too. He has very poor oratory skills and often says silly remarks that are more confusing than anything.
However, even Dwayne Seymour, with all his intellectual challenges, was wise enough to realize that the generational Caymanian people required protection and not allowing Caymanians to be marginalized in their own country, where all Caymanians of various categories are minorities.
This is pretty short sighted legislation … by not allowing employees to change jobs, the most vulnerable members of our society just got a lot more vulnerable. Imagine working in a minimum wage construction job as a laborer, where you are afraid to speak up about safety violations for fear of being deported. This is real and already happens, but at least now, you can quit that job and find another without upending your whole life. Slavery is alive and well in the Cayman Islands.
Hope one day they get what they have been asking for: all of us are gone and noone to relieve this long line at KFC and clean their toilets and watch their loud pickney.
It’s amusing to perceive the Troll Fests which encircle the carrion.
I would never have come to this island under those conditions, I have changed employers several times due to various illegal, and unsavory practices I have encountered on the job.
It should be anybody’s right, regardless of your immigration status, to quit a job, without risking immediate deportation.
This will drive qualified people away and leave those without any other options.
I’m nobody’s slave, thank you.
The changes will make for a fun Thanksgiving dinner in 2025. We can all sit around the table and guess which kind of Caymanian each person is supposed to be. Could even make some kind of game out of it.
However, you choose to view different categories of Caymanians is your prerogative, but it is necessary and lawful as a self-preservation exercise that closes gaps that were opened too wide and now require readjusting this imbalance.
Bermuda has recently weighed in on the mistake that the Cayman Islands that lead to Caymanians becoming a minority in the Cayman Islands, which has lead to serious negative consequences for the earlier longstanding Caymanian people.
Bermuda is well known for their blatant nationalism and racism. Cayman should not aspire to follow in those footsteps.
What consequences?
I can guarantee you, if I was even a 2nd generation Caymanian I would be a lot wealthier than I am now with a lot less effort and life upheavals taken to get to this (relatively comfortable) point.
I sympathise on a lot of the immigration issues faced in Cayman but these discussion points will not fix anything if they were enacted.
Remember it’s the long standing Caymanians that voted for the politicians that have driven the island to this point; and you have faith the current cohort can fix it?
There should be an “Illegal Caymanian” category to cover the ‘’marriages of convenience” scam currently being ignored ….particularly if another Bodden Town voter is to be gained by it.