One Bermuda Alliance MP Leah Scott has pleaded with her party colleagues not to push ahead with Pathways to Status in its existing form, saying the proposals “may well be the right thing to do, but it is not right at this time”.

However, OBA chairwoman Lynne Woolridge responded by defending the party’s stance on the “hot-button issue”, adding that the initiative was for the benefit of Bermuda and its people.

Backbencher Ms Scott, who told this newspaper last month she believed her party should consider a “staggered approach” to immigration reform, sent the recent correspondence to Michael Dunkley, the Premier, Attorney-General Trevor Moniz, Michael Fahy, the Minister of Home Affairs, and his junior minister, Sylvan Richards.

The proposals would lead to Bermudian status being granted to permanent resident’s certificate holders who have been domiciled on the island for 20 years.

Among Ms Scott’s concerns are the possibility of creating an “en masse OBA voting block” and jeopardising the job security for future generations.

“I have said repeatedly that if we were ten years back and the economy was awash with cash, people were working, and houses were rented, Pathways would not be an issue,” she wrote. “But we are here in an economy that is barely recovering and the country is in turmoil. People don’t have jobs, those who do have jobs, don’t have job security. People can’t pay their bills, can’t pay rent, are losing their houses. So everything that we do that seems to be ‘anti’ Bermudian is magnified.”

She criticised Mr Fahy for “pursuing his own agenda” and went on to claim that a majority white permanent resident population “will be fairly well connected”.

She continued: “Accordingly, it is those Bermudians who will get the jobs, thereby displacing our Bermudian children. Please give me a good argument to dissuade me of this.

“You need to step back and reassess this. Not only do we need comprehensive immigration reform, but we need to reform immigration comprehensively. We have to start listening to the people and stop thinking that you have all the answers and the way that you do things is right or is the only way. Based on the law of averages, you cannot always be right and you don’t always do things right.

“Granted, I don’t know all of the things that have gone on behind the scenes in terms of collaboration. But I have had several people, including some of my constituents, contact me and ask me why the OBA isn’t listening, and what will it take to make them listen.

“We are public servants — we are elected to serve the people. Minister Fahy is not elected; however, in 2012, when we became Government, Minister Fahy chose immigration as the ministry that he wanted and since that time he has clearly and steadfastly pursued his own agenda. Are you prepared to let one man’s desire to promote his agenda be the driving force behind bringing this island to its knees?

“This is one of those issues that you can’t dismiss as folly. What you are doing is cutting right to the heart of Bermudian people. Both sides agree that there should be a pathway. Both sides agree that there are long-term residents who should be granted status.

“However, a consensus has not been reached as to how those grants should be processed and the people of this country have not been provided with any level of comfort as to how this government intends to protect our Bermudian children.”

Ms Woolridge called Ms Scott’s comments “an example of the free and sometimes intense discussions the party conducts in fulfilling its commitments to providing the people of Bermuda with a strong, secure and prosperous future”.

She added: “Immigration is a hot-button issue around the world and Bermuda is no exception, as the past few weeks have demonstrated. Clearly, some of the decisions taken by Cabinet are controversial, but they have also been right for Bermuda’s wellbeing and instrumental in helping to bring about the economic recovery all Bermudians need.

“We can appreciate that Minister Fahy’s decisive approach to public issues disturbs some in the community, but he, like his Cabinet colleagues, is doing all he can as quickly as he can to create conditions that will provide the jobs and opportunity Bermudians need now.”

• To read Ms Scott’s e-mail in full, click on the PDF link under “Related Media”