Last week, the Department of Immigration deported one hundred and five Haitian nationals from New Providence to Cap Haitien.
This was the largest single deportation exercise carried out in 2025.
These were people convicted of immigration offences.
Illegal landing.
Overstaying.
Possession of fraudulent documents.
Knowingly attempting to mislead an immigration officer.
They faced fines from three hundred to three thousand dollars.
They faced prison sentences from three months to one year.
After serving their sentences or paying their fines, they were handed over to Immigration for deportation.
This is how the system works today.
Our officers enforce the Immigration Act.
People who break our laws face the court.
Those who are here illegally are removed.
Today I want to explain the next step.
We are adding a new layer of enforcement on top of the Immigration Act.
The Government has brought to Parliament the Smuggling of Migrants Bill.
For the first time in our history, this Bill creates a clear crime of migrant smuggling in Bahamian law.
Right now, prosecutors have to piece together charges from the Penal Code, Customs and Immigration laws.
That approach misses many of the tricks and methods used by organised smuggling networks.
This Bill closes that gap.
It gives prosecutors and law enforcement a sharp, modern tool to go after the people who organise, finance and profit from illegal migration.
Under the Bill, if you smuggle migrants, you face serious penalties.
On summary conviction, you can be fined up to one hundred thousand dollars or jailed for up to seven years, or both.
On conviction on information, you can be fined up to two hundred thousand dollars or jailed for up to ten years, or both.
If your conduct is aggravated
If you endanger life
If you abuse or exploit people
If you are a repeat offender
Then the penalties increase even further.
On conviction on information, you can be fined up to three hundred thousand dollars or jailed for up to fifteen years, or both.
If you own the boat, the aircraft or the vehicle used in the smuggling
It can be seized and forfeited.
The court can also fine you up to three thousand dollars for every migrant you smuggled.
So let me be clear.
This Bill is aimed at the smugglers.
The bosses.
The organisers.
The people who take money to move human beings like cargo.
The intent of this Bill is simple.
We punish the smugglers, not the people who are smuggled, while keeping the Immigration Act and the Penal Code fully in force.
Those who are smuggled will still be charged for illegal entry, illegal landing, overstaying, and fake documents, but they are not charged for the act of being smuggled itself, as internationally they are viewed as victims of these crimes. However, they will be deported.
Illegal entry remains illegal.
Overstaying remains illegal.
The Immigration Act remains in full force.
Immigration officers will still detain, process and remove people who breach our laws.
In some cases, people come to The Bahamas on a legal visa.
They land at our airport, pass through our border, then link up with smugglers to be moved on to the United States.
Those crimes are planned, arranged and funded in our jurisdiction.
This Bill gives us stronger power to deal with that.
To charge the recruiters.
The transporters.
The people who provide fake documents and safe houses.
We will continue to work with our partners in the United States, and with the Trump administration, to combat smuggling in this region.
We already cooperate closely with US agencies at sea and in the air.
This new law will make that cooperation even more effective.
There has been a lot of concerns and misinformation about this Bill.
Some people say it makes illegal entry legal.
That is false.
Some say it gives status or citizenship.
That is false.
What this Bill really does is simple.
It keeps our Immigration Act in place.
It keeps deportation in place.
And it adds a tough new crime of migrant smuggling on top, with heavy fines, long prison terms and the power to take away the assets used to commit the crime.
We are sending a clear message.
To the smugglers
To the organisers
To the people thinking about using The Bahamas as a transit point
If you use our islands to run this criminal trade, you will face the full strength of Bahamian law.