This past Friday in Belmopan at the George Price Center, another batch of applicants were duly sworn in as citizens of Belize, just in time to apply to also become registered voters.
And while their joy was apparent, one Belize City woman was unable to share in that joy despite her best efforts.
Sanitation worker for Belize Maintenance Limited (BML), Valda Bodden, who is currently 49 but turns 50 on February 4, is originally from Honduras and settled here 23 years ago. She has ten children, five of whom were born here (and are thus citizens of Belize); the others, like her, must apply for their citizenship.
She began the application process last October with the promise of being able to get Belizean nationality, but she needs to apply for her other documents, such as a passport and her Belizean Social Security card, both of which are expired.
After going through the entire legitimate process, including getting a police record, various medical tests, and being interviewed by Immigration officials, and paying for her nationality certificate, trouble struck when she was told that her handler had lost her police record, and she would have to apply “express” for another one. Then she was told that her passport did not have a stamp confirming that she entered legally.
Finally, she was told that she was denied nationality because of a conviction for drug possession that dates back to 2003, when police found her with a small quantity of marijuana in her yard.
But because of that indiscretion, she must wait another year before applying again, despite having met all other requirements.
Naturally, Bodden is upset. She told Amandala, “Why should I be denied nationality for something as small as that? It’s not like I killed anyone.”
And she may have a point. Under the Belizean Nationality Act, Cap. 161 of the Laws of Belize, a person may qualify and apply for citizenship by registration if he or she is of sound mind, full age, and resident for five years preceding the date of the application and will continue to live here thereafter.
Section 10 (3) of the Act lists the reasons that the Minister (of Immigration, currently Carlos Perdomo) may refuse to register a person as a citizen of Belize:
“(a) the applicant is not of good character;
(b) has been convicted by a competent court in any country of a criminal offence for which he was sentenced to death or has been detained under a sentence of imprisonment of twelve months or more imposed on him on his conviction of a criminal offence by such a court, and in either case, has not received a free pardon in respect of the offence; or
(c) has engaged in activities, whether within or outside of Belize, which, in the opinion of the Minister, are prejudicial to the safety of Belize or to the maintenance of law and public order in Belize; or
(d) has been adjudged or otherwise declared bankrupt under any law in force in any country and has not been discharged; or
(e) not being the dependent of a citizen of Belize, has not sufficient means to maintain himself and is likely to become a public charge.”
We presume that references to court convictions include those in Belizean courts, but this particular refusal is troubling in light of the many applications received and accepted in the past few weeks with no apparent checks into the background of those applying, whether they are guilty of any serious crime, in Belize or elsewhere.
There is no indication of how many of the applicants in fact entered Belize illegally (or legally, for that matter), or whether the Police have cooperated with counterpart forces in Central America to run checks on applicants for citizenship.
Bodden yearns to visit her ill mother back home in Honduras, but cannot travel because she does not have a renewed passport. So far, her employers have given her no hassle over her lack of documents, but she hopes to get her situation resolved as soon as possible.
Calls to the office of Immigration and Nationality in Belmopan this afternoon went unanswered, as the telephone line was busy all the time.