The recent spate of immigration reform protests will continue until the Bermuda Government changes its unilateral stance, LaVerne Furbert has promised.

The former Progressive Labour Party senator spoke to The Royal Gazette before the latest demonstration, to be held tomorrow from midday to 2pm on the House of Assembly grounds.

In her Facebook announcement, Ms Furbert asked attendees to wear black and bring a brown paper bag lunch to the event, being held to coincide with the day’s parliamentary session.

The protest group is angry at Minister of Home Affairs Michael Fahy’s new Pathways to Status legislation, which would make it easier for long-term Bermuda residents to gain both permanent residency and status.

Although recent rallies have taken the form of “civil disobedience”, such as when protesters brought East Broadway traffic to a crawl on Tuesday morning, Ms Furbert said tomorrow’s event would simply give participants a chance to have their voices heard.

“We want Government to see that it’s not only a small group of people looking for immigration reform,” she said. “If parliamentarians want to come and speak with us, they’ll certainly be welcome to.”

Ms Furbert added that the group was hoping to boost its numbers by encouraging members of the community to join the cause, including government workers on their lunch hours.

“From where I’ve stood, the public is very supportive of what we’re doing,” she said.

“On East Broadway, we asked people to honk if they supported us and they wanted immigration reform. I can assure you that we had a lot of honks.

“There were people who showed their displeasure at what we were doing, but I would say the overwhelming majority of people showed support for us.

“We see [these demonstrations] going on until we hear the One Bermuda Alliance government say that they’re going to reconsider, and set up a bipartisan committee to look at immigration reform.”

Meanwhile, PLP stalwart and former Premier Alex Scott voiced his approval of the protest movement.

“It just means that democracy is alive and well in Bermuda,” he said.

“If members of the public have unreadiness with parliamentary initiatives, it is a tradition here that they can exercise the right to protest.

“It’s not a right to live in Bermuda or be given immigration privileges, it’s a privilege. Let us never confuse those.”