Restructuring at Immigration Department takes effect this week

A number of organisational changes are coming to the Immigration Department as
the government moves to improve the overall operations and efficiencies of this
critical arm of the government.
Minister Responsible for Immigration, Steadroy Benjamin says a restructuring
exercise is taking place at the department that will go into effect as of 1 st August,
2023.
“Currently, the department is headed by a Chief Immigration Officer, but there are
no deputies in place; we are going to change that. Under the new arrangement, the
CIO (Katrina Yearwood) will have working alongside her two deputies; one will
be in charge of operations and the other will be in charge of administration,”
Benjamin explained.
He added that there will be four officers in charge, who will be responsible for the
department’s four divisions. They will be assisted by station chiefs.
“We are streamlining the department to make it more effective, professional and
efficient. Previously, the department functioned without the benefit of having
deputies and it is our desire to bring it in line with other law enforcement agencies
within the government, such as the police and the customs division,” he stated.
He further explained that under the new arrangement, the CIO can have a strategic
level management team to include the two deputies and an operational level team
to include the officers in charge and the station chiefs.
Chief Immigration Officer Katrina Yearwood, has been off-island for over a week
and one of the two people identified for the post of Deputy Chief Immigration
Officer, Neigel Emmanuel, has been acting as Chief Immigration Officer. The
other person to be appointed as deputy, is Wesley Simon. Simon will be
responsible for operations, while Emmanuel will oversee the department’s
administration.