Government should notify all Bermudians who have been placed on the United States stop list, an Opposition MP charged yesterday.

Warwick West MP Dr. Ewart Brown said yesterday that there are more than 30 categories in which a Bermudian could be placed on the stop list, making them ineligible to travel to the US.

"I have initiated discussions with US Consul's office and found out during the preliminary discussions that there are more than 30 categories in which a person might fit to become ineligible to travel to the US,'' he said.

He added: "I'm convinced that it isn't strictly through convictions that one ends up on that list.'' And Dr. Brown said the information used by the US to place people on the stop list did not have to come from a particular source. "It just has to be satisfactory to the US Government,'' he added.

Noting the frequency with which Bermudians travel, Dr. Brown said locals need know their restrictions before they headed to the airport.

He estimated that there were fewer than 5,000 Bermudians on the stop list, an unofficial term for a situation where a person was ineligible to enter the US.

As an example, Dr. Brown introduced Hilton Smith who has recently found himself on the stop list, but does not know the exact reason why.

Mr. Smith admitted that he was convicted in 1994 of breaking and entering and had served time in prison for the offence.

Mr. Smith said he suspected that he was on the stop list and went to the US Consul General's office to find out for sure.

He was referred to an immigration officer at the Airport and upon presenting his passport to the officer was told that he was on the stop list.

"I want to know why,'' he said. "If it's there and if it's for my record then I have no argument with it, but I just want to see some documented proof.

"I want to know why. I want to know what category I fall into.'' Dr. Brown said the US Consul General had no printed "list'' in which locals could check to see if they were eligible to travel to America.

But Dr. Brown insisted that the Bermuda Government had an obligation to let people know.

"...We need to take the lead and provide a means by which individual Bermudians know exactly where to go to find out if they are eligible or ineligible for entry into the US,'' he said.

Dr. Brown made it clear that the US had every right to set their own immigration policy and that "we have to respect that policy''.

GOVERNMENT GVT