Immigration Minister David Burch said Bermudians should not have been consulted in the decision to allow Guantánamo Bay detainees to repatriate to the Island.

Speaking live on the Everest DeCosta radio show yesterday, Sen. Burch said: "We wouldn't be having this discussion if we had tried to have a debate before. If we had done that, I wouldn't have had to be here today. You couldn't make a decision of that magnitude and try to get 65,000 opinions."

The caller who asked the question replied: "This is so wrong. We live in a democracy. This has a direct impact on our lives. I think this Government has lost the way."

Sen. Burch escorted the men to the Island from Guantánamo Bay on a charter flight Wednesday night.

Yesterday, he told the media that the four had been cleared of terrorism allegations in a US court and sat in the prison as innocent men. "We are people who care and are people who help others and certainly in this case that is practically what we are doing," he said.

Asked about their mental state, Senator Burch said: "Their mental state appears to be quite fine."

He said they talked the whole flight to Bermuda, and were excited about coming to the Island.

Asked by Mr. DeCosta whether Bermuda would see a financial reward, Sen. Burch said: "That's not how friends operate and do things. But certainly in the real world people think like that.

"The relationship between the US and Bermuda has been strong for 400 years. I think as a result of this act by Bermuda, it can only get stronger."

He continued: "There's going to be those who thought we got it wrong but this is the right thing to do. Certainly our relationship with the United States of America is a lengthy one, 400 years.

"When a good friend asks you to do something you look at all the facts and weigh the evidence and make a decision based on what you think is the right thing to do."

When Mr. DeCosta put it to him that the US didn't want the men on US soil, he replied: "A fair amount of that, Everest, is from the resistance of the mere mention of the name Guantánamo Bay.

"Most people believe that everybody there is a terrorist. That clearly is not the case. We believe this is the right thing to do for people who deserve to have fairness and justice."

One caller complained about Bermudians not getting a break if they are wrongfully accused of a crime or are put on the US stop list.

He said it was unfair that these men could be repatriated here.

Another caller said: "I hope England says 'no, Bermuda cannot accept them'."