This week will see the third in a series of town hall meetings on immigration reform, called by the Progressive Labour Party in the wake of a landmark decision on Bermuda status handed down by the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice Ian Kawaley’s ruling on May 2 could allow for certain holders of the Permanent Resident’s Certificate (PRC) to gain status, via a previously overlooked clause in immigration legislation.

The PLP have announced the East End meeting to take place on Thursday at 6.30pm at Clearwater Middle School.

In a statement issued yesterday, Opposition Leader Marc Bean said the party was calling for immigration reform, plus “closing the legal loophole that would allow thousands of PRCs to compete directly with Bermudians for jobs, opportunities and land”.

The PRC category was signed into law by the PLP in July 2002, in a move aimed at giving security to long-term overseas residents of the Island.

However, with the recent emergence of status potential, the Opposition argued that section 20B should be removed in its entirety — which an OBA spokesman likened to “a country trying to deal with a refugee problem by simply shutting down the camps where refugees live”.

The matter is currently under legal appeal by the Ministry of Home Affairs, and on June 6 the Government voted down an Opposition bill to delete the offending section of the law.

On that occasion, Attorney General Trevor Moniz told the House: “The position of this side is that it’s premature to decide exactly what the ramifications of this decision are.”

The issue arose after Home Affairs Minister Michael Fahy turned down requests for status by PRCs Rebecca Carne and Antonio Correia.

The two had been naturalised, and had then applied for status under the little-used section 20B (2) (b) of the Immigration and Protection Act.

The clause had been put in place in 1989, when the then United Bermuda Party Government ceased to grant discretionary status. Previously, in a controversial practice widely criticised as unfair, up to 40 people a year could be handed status.

The 1989 clause allows for individuals who have resided in Bermuda since July 1, 1989 to apply for status, but contains the proviso that the applicant had to have been approved for the grant of Bermuda status.

This condition allowed the Minister to turn down Ms Carne and Mr Correia, on the basis that they hadn’t obtained pre-approval before making their applications to the Governor to become naturalised as British Overseas Territories citizens.

Both applicants appealed to the independent Immigration Appeals Tribunal, which ruled that the pre-approval requirement made no sense.

The tribunal also ruled that once the applicants had been naturalised, the move to deny them equal citizenship went against their rights, as protected by article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The Minister’s subsequent appeal of the decision argued that human rights law had no bearing on the case.

However, Mr Justice Kawaley found ambiguity and doubt in the wording of what Parliament intended to occur when the correct procedure wasn’t followed.

In his ruling, the Chief Justice called Bermuda’s immigration law “uniquely local legislation”, adding: “Navigating through it often gives even the experienced judge or practitioner an unnerving sense of what it must be like to ‘fly blind’.”

Mr Justice Kawaley also said that for the Minister to turn down the two applicants solely on the basis that they hadn’t been preapproved had “an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ air to it”.

After taking further legal advice, Mr Moniz last month announced that Government would continue to appeal the ruling.

Applications have been taken by the Department of Immigration, but the OBA have said that they were on hold until the matter could be clarified.

The matter was subsequently taken up by the Peoples’ Campaign, and has so far been the topic of PLP public meetings at Devonshire Recreation Club on June 26, and the Dalton E Tucker Primary School on July 3.

An estimated 250 attended the first gathering, with roughly 80 at the second with repeated calls for marches and demonstrations over fears that new status Bermudians stood to force Bermudians out of jobs and property.

Mr Bean said yesterday that “a balanced approach is needed on immigration reform leading to a policy that is fair, protects Bermudians and takes into account our limited space and resources.”

Thursday’s meeting is to be moderated by PLP MP Lovitta Foggo, with Shadow Immigration Minister Walton Brown to speak on the issue’s background.

Mr Justice Kawaley’s judgment, along with a summary, can be read in full at the Supreme Court website, accessible via the Government online portal.