Ivan Williams, Labor Commissioner
"The bulk of the work permits comes as a result of a request coming out of the industries, the porous nature of our borders that we have with Guatemala begs for people to come over in many respects irregular undocumented."

Hon. Aldo Salazar
"Commissioner, as a select committee we have been tasked with particularly looking at the issues that have come out of the report of the Auditor General which any impartial observer will note that and this is my view, any impartial observer should note that there is evidence of systemic problems with immigration, part of it has to do with some sort of corruption."

"I think that the issue of immigration from Central America has not necessarily fed this corruption because frankly those people are too poor, those people who are coming from here from...those migrant workers are too poor to feed that sort of corruption that is being fed by a different type of immigrant I feel what we have seen from the report has practicality a large number to do with Asians, Asian immigrants."

"Is there a specific policy in relation to those types of people because on my part I would say we don't necessarily need any more shop attendants, clerks in Belize, Belizeans can do those jobs."

Ivan Williams
"Yes one of the term of reference of the national employment permit committee speaks to that, they have the responsibly to suggest, to recommend areas for which work permits should not be improved and I can tell you that shop assistants and shop clerks are part of the recommendation and so they don't issue work permits in those areas."

"The most important part is that you have said the buck stops at the Immigration Department meaning that the work permit, if they do not want to issue a work permit or if there is a problem despite your recommendation the immigration department has under the law the authority not to issue that work permit."

But as you heard, the responsibility ultimately lies with the Immigration department to issue work permits.