At left, Marian Hines-Bernard.- PHOTO BY CLAUDINE HOUSEN. At left is Judson Bernard - CONTRIBUTED.
Monique Hepburn, News Editor
WESTERN BUREAU:
A CHANCE meeting at a bus stop in Montego Bay last year and an eventual marriage between a St. James woman and a Haitian man have turned sour for the couple.
The man, Judson Bernard, was detained last week by immigration officials leaving his wife, Marian Hines-Bernard, in a quandry.
Determined to see her husband again, a heartbroken Marian, aided by Nancy Anderson, human rights lawyer with the Independent Jamaica Council for Human Rights, invited The Sunday Gleaner to hear her plight.
At her home in Black Shop, Johns Hall, she related their initial meeting and events leading up to his detention.
"We met at a bus stop at The Clock in Montego Bay last year. I was waiting on a taxi to go home and he was on his way from work (in Anchovy, St. James). Mrs. Bernard said. "He started talking to me."
STARTED MEETING REGULARLY
The couple started meeting regularly in Montego Bay and despite their seven-year age difference (she is 28 and he is 21), they married on September 14, 2005.
"When he asked me if I wanted to get married, I started to laugh, because I thought he was joking, but I said yes," she recalled.
"The wedding was held at a pastor's office and afterwards, we just walked around town for a bit and then went home," she said, eyes downcast while nervously rubbing her hands together.
Noticing that she wore no wedding band, an enquiry was made.
"I did not get one yet," she replied.
The couple reportedly lived in wedded bliss until last Wednesday when they went to Kingston to regularise Judson's immigration status.
"After we went to the office, they kept changing the dates. One day they called us and told us to come in. They took us to an office and started asking questions," she said. "They asked me how long we were married and if he paid me to get married. They asked me if I know that he was to go back to Haiti. I told them no."
Mrs. Bernard recalled that, following the questioning, she was told that her husband would be arrested and sent to the Horizon Remand Centre.
NOT ALLOWED TO SEE HIM
"They put handcuffs on him and said they are sorry, but they are going to keep him. I wanted to cry, but one of the immigration officers said that I should cheer up because everything will be OK. I tried to visit him, but I was not allowed to see him."
Attorney Nancy Anderson told The Sunday Gleaner that Mr. Bernard was scheduled to leave the island last week, but the flight was delayed due to an administrative hiccup in Haiti. She has since written to Gilbert Scott, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, requesting his intervention.
INHUMANE TO SEPARATE COUPLE
"According to the Constitution of Jamaica any foreigner who marries a Jamaican can apply for citizenship. It can be refused if it is proven that the marriage is a fake. There should be no reason for his application to be denied," she said.
Ms. Anderson argued that, while it is the prerogative of the Government to detain Mr. Bernard and send him back to Haiti to file an application, it was inhumane to separate the couple.
"The situation puts Mr. Bernard in a position to go back to Haiti to put in an application. It will cost them money, which neither of them has. It is now a race against time."
Ms. Anderson said that Mr. Bernard was still in the island and that Mr. Scott was still considering the matter.
Donovan Nelson, a spokesman at the Ministry of National Security, told The Sunday Gleaner that the plan to repatriate the Haitians in light of last week's delay, would be conducted by next week, as the Jamaican Government had received landing rights from the Haitian authorities.
