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Senate Probe Calls Former Director To Defend Herself
posted (January 4, 2017)

After a brief pause for the holidays, the Senate Hearings on the Immigration Department resumed today. The Senate Select Committee called Former Acting Director of Immigration Maria Marin to testify.

Now, she was called to respond to the claims made by Auditor General Dorothy Bradley and her lead auditor, Carla Faber.  In the last session, they outlined the mass irregularities at the Department between 2011 and 2013.

In their testimony the auditors explained why they singled out Marin for allegedly trying to get in the way of their audit. Well, Marin got her long awaited chance to defend herself today. Here’s how it went:

Hon. Aldo Salazar - Chairman, Senate Select Committee
"The director Mrs. Marin has consistently found ways to evade requests made for the accessing of records."

Maria Marin - Former Director of Immigration
"The following have been requested and not received. An internal report, that internal report I believe she was referring to the restructuring report that was a paper that was to be submitted to cabinet. I did not have a copy of that and from the very inception when they requested on I think it was the 15th of October 2013, they requested a copy of that internal report. I had told them that I did not have that because that was entirely under the ministry's actions. Policies and procedures governing the application and issuance of nationality certificate and passport, that was forwarded to the officer in charge of nationality and the officer in charge of passport to ensure that they handed that over the audit team. The policies and procedures for the issuance of the visas, that instruction was given to the officer in charge of immigration to ensure that they got that information. There were two others, electronic stroke manual databases for the national certificate and passport for the about period. For the nationality certificates we had the huge legers, the thick cover bounded; that was available in the nationality section. The passport was the machine readable passport system and the passport files; we did not have a database proper for any of these, electronic or manual. The database for the issuance of visas there was no database as such, there were the files and so we referred them to those. There was the swearing in ceremony register that was with the minister at the time."

"My indication to the officer in charge who came to me or when I got the memo because most of the time the memo went to the CEO, I indicated I could not hand that over because that was not with me, they had to check with the ministry for that. I felt it was unreasonable for them to be complaining and putting that in a report that I was not being cooperative because I was not handing over documentation or registers that were not in my possession at the time."

During that back and forth with the Committee, PUP Senator Eamon Courtenay challenged the Former Immigration Director that she could have done more to assist the Auditors in trying to do their work, and here’s how she responded:

Hon. Eamon Courtenay - PUP Senator
"You are telling us that as far as you were concerned at this time just to be clear, you were acting director when the audit was being conducted?"

Maria Marin - Former Director of Immigration
"Conducted, yes."

Hon. Eamon Courtenay - PUP Senator
"To be clear the process that was established according to my understanding is that you told the audit team when you want documents or information speak to the senior officers on the department?"

Maria Marin - Former Director of Immigration
"Yes I said kindly go the officers in charge because I was really involved in the report that was being requested."

Hon. Eamon Courtenay - PUP Senator
"I understand that and listening to you, you from time to time received either complaints or concerns from staff that the audit team was making request for documents and information but they were asking pardon the expression the wrong officers, two junior officers who didn't have the information or didn't have the right answers; is that correct?"

Maria Marin - Former Director of Immigration
"Yes sir, in some instances."

Hon. Eamon Courtenay - PUP Senator
"What did you do about that?"

Maria Marin - Former Director of Immigration
"I indicated to the CEO, I said CEO many times what I get is that they are going to junior officers. Could we kindly get them to put it in writing so that we can address it? I wouldn't say that I did not take any steps, I wouldn't say that, I did advise my ministry."

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