Michael Fahy continued to defend the controversial plan to create new pathways to Bermudian status, calling it morally and economically the right move.

The proposal came under fire again in the Senate yesterday morning with Progressive Labour Party senators arguing that the Government should focus on creating pathways to success for Bermudians first.

Marc Daniels, the Opposition Senate Leader, described the announcement as a “bombshell” in the wake of a by-election loss.

“I have no concerns in terms of advocating for children who were born here and had no choices but fall into a quagmire of immigration statuses or those who were brought up in Bermuda, speak with a Bermudian accent, have gone to Bermudians schools and have integrated with our society.

“Yes, there is an urgency in terms of trying to make sure that we find a sense of security for individuals like that who fall into a certain category, but I think the approach that we have to take is extremely measured.

“Right now we are seeing what appear to be rash decisions justified on certain levels and basis with an urgency of now, but no seeming shared sacrifice applied whatsoever. We have genuine concerns.”

Senator Fahy however responded that immigration reform is required to meet international human rights regulations, noting immigration tribunal judgments.

“Most of the decisions have gone against this government when we said no to people. The Immigration Appeal Tribunal has said yes because of this piece of legislation, it’s the right thing to do, you’re in breach of your human rights regulations, your in breach of declarations on human rights.

“Do we want to be involved in litigation? Do we want to spend the tax payers money on cases that are hopeless? No, because then I wind up before parliament asking for supplementaries for legal fees.

“How to we get people into a position to feel secure to make investments in a country they have made a contribution to? We look and we say people who have been here for an extended period of time, we should let them remain secure so they will make that investment.”

Senator Fahy also defended the administration’s record with regard to work permits, stating the government has increased penalties for work permit violations and made changes to better enable Bermudians to compete for jobs.

“What we should probably do, to help ourselves out with our public relations, is try to gather data about the number of work permits that have been refused and the number of appeals I have to deal with every week,” he said. “We have not got anywhere near the number of work permits that were issued by the previous government. That hasn’t happened because the environment is not yet in place where we are able to create job opportunities.

“I will accept that there are some in the community that feel they are losing out, and the answer I can give to that is that we have said it will take us this five years to get to a place where we will be satisfied we have done the very best that we can. We have never said we could fix things overnight.

“This narrative that’s being painted by the opposition, it’s a good political narrative, but that’s all it is. Why would we bother to help everyone else out when we are here to serve the people of this country? In order to get jobs on the table, we need direct foreign investment, we need people on the ground and we need sustained economic growth.”