Patricia Gordon-Pamplin has upheld the decision to reject a work permit application for the Reverend Nicholas Tweed.

Mr Tweed’s time on the island appeared to be running out yesterday, with the Minister of Home Affairs telling a press conference: “His work permit will come to an end as of this decision being handed down. However, I will have conversations with his employer to ensure that there is as little disruption as possible in the transition process.”

Ms Gordon-Pamplin declared Mr Tweed’s application “incomplete” and said it contained “inaccuracies”, but she declined to give details.

St Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church did not reply when asked by The Royal Gazette whether its application was complete.

Reacting yesterday afternoon, Bermuda Industrial Union president Chris Furbert urged all special general council members and shop stewards to attend a meeting to discuss the matter at noon today, at BIU headquarters.

A spokeswoman for the People’s Campaign said the move was political, describing it as “another example of a tactic in the One Bermuda Alliance Government’s war against the People’s Campaign”.

Walton Brown, the Shadow Minister of Home Affairs, said the Progressive Labour Party was “profoundly disappointed” by the decision, claiming that Mr Tweed had been treated unfairly.

Mr Tweed, pastor at St Paul AME Church, is a vocal critic of the Bermuda Government and prominent member of the People’s Campaign.

His three-year work permit was due to expire on July 19 this year, and Ms Gordon-Pamplin said she received the application on July 13. Ministry policy indicates applications must be made no less than one month before expiry.

The application was rejected in October, prompting an outcry from supporters.

Speaking at the press conference, Ms Gordon-Pamplin denied that the move was based on Mr Tweed’s political activism.

“Rules, regulations and oversights within the provisions of the Act must apply consistently across the board,” she said of the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Act 1956. “There is one set of rules for everyone, otherwise the system breaks down.”

Ms Gordon-Pamplin added that all work permits must meet two basic requirements for a permit to be issued: the employer must advertise the post and the applicant must submit accurate and complete information.

“The applicant failed to comply with these two basic requirements,” she said. “The position was not advertised despite repeated requests by the Department [of Immigration] to do so, and the actual application was incomplete and contained inaccuracies.

“On the basis of these failures to fulfil the requirements of the immigration policy, the work permit application was rejected. And on the basis of the continuing failure to fulfil the requirements of the policy within the timelines set out by instruction of the department, I confirmed the decision.

“The details of my decision have been communicated to the parties involved.

“I do not intend to make that information public unless the parties themselves make a public call for clarity of the relevant facts.”

Describing herself as a person of faith who has spent almost 60 years in the AME Church, Ms Gordon-Pamplin said she is well aware of its historical struggle, saying the Government has had many communications with the Church about this matter.

However, she added that Bermuda’s immigration rules exist to protect Bermudians in the workplace, noting that every other denomination has complied with requirements established two years ago.

“It is critically important that the intent and spirit of these rules and regulations are upheld,” she said. “Anything less would invite an ‘anything goes’ policy, calling into question the island’s integrity and its commitment to protect the interests of the Bermudian workers.

“In this particular instance, the applicant failed to comply with the rules that were put in place for everyone. As a result, I had no choice but to uphold the previous decision to refuse the new application.”

The post of pastor at St Paul AME Church was not advertised in The Royal Gazette, and the church has not responded when asked whether it requested a waiver from the Department of Immigration, allowing it not to advertise. St Paul AME Church has previously complained that the rejection amounted to a “total disrespect and disregard for the doctrine and discipline of the AME Church, and the rejection of the longstanding custom and practice surrounding appointments of pastors in the AME Church in Bermuda”.

Ms Gordon-Pamplin reiterated yesterday that until 2014, different policies were in place for churches, but that since then they must abide by the same rules as companies and charities.

“In 2014, everyone started with the same level playing field,” she said. “It’s natural to push back, to say ‘I didn’t have to do this before’, but the older system and procedures have been superseded.”

Asked if she was concerned about the possibility of public backlash, Ms Gordon-Pamplin said she could operate the department according only to the rules that have been laid out.

“I cannot speak to how people might possibly respond to it,” she said. “I would certainly hope that people will look at the information that has been provided, the policies and procedures that exist, and accept and appreciate that it is the way that we must operate in order to be fair to everybody.

“The one thing that you cannot do as a government, certainly as a minister, is to manage and control a department based on what you think might happen. You can look at the rules, you can look at the application of the rules, and you can ensure that there is constant and fair application of these rules. That is all you can do.”

Mr Tweed was born in London, but has close family links to Bermuda, his biography on the St Paul AME Church website describing the island as his “ancestral homeland”.

He has pointed to the contributions of his father, Kingsley Tweed, towards desegregation and previously said: “I don’t come to this island as a foreigner.”