PETRO DRILLING Protect of Courts Act
Continued from Page 1
rything was signed and basically we
could not get out of it. But if we could’ve
gotten out of it, believe me, I am totally
against drilling for oil in our waters.”
In stark contrast, Shell Oil of the
United Kingdom is preparing to return
to Jamaica as the local petroleum company
is moving to encourage some of
the world’s supermajors to begin drilling
off the island’s south coast in the
coming months.
In Grenada, the administration of
Prime Minister Keith Mitchell has not
said much about plans to drill in waters
near oil and gas-rich Trinidad and
Tobago since a Russian company had
said that it had found indications of
commercial oil and gas more than
two years ago even as cabinet said it
is determined to begin an exploration
campaign. Nearby Barbados has also
dished out a few exploration licenses,
well aware like Grenada, that it is just a
few dozen miles from Trinidad.
But the two gems of the 15-nation
grouping remain Guyana and neighboring
Suriname. Nearly 25 mega wells
gushing with oil and lush with gas
have been found in a basin area almost
on the line of the maritime border
between the two even as Exxon, Apache
Oil, Total and Petronas companies are
fixing to drill more than half a dozen
next year.
As the Stenna Ice Max gears up,
drilling will take place offshore Andros
Island, Attorney General Carl Bethel
said authorities can’t at all do anything
to stop the drilling as not a single
local law or regulation has been
breached. The influential Bahamian
National Trust (BNT) and the Waterkeepers
Directorate said they beg to
disagree.
“It’s not just Bahamians, but people
in Florida are concerned about the
potential impact of an accident or an
incident or a continuous impact of oil,”
BNT Director Eric Carey told the Tribune
Newspaper.
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munities,” Cuomo said. “This legislation
will ensure every New Yorker can
have their day in court without fear of
being unfairly targeted by ICE or other
federal immigration authorities.”
The governor said the legislation
will not prohibit an arrest warrant
from being authorized by a judge.
However, he said, an immigrationrelated
courthouse arrest based on an
administrative warrant, or without a
warrant, would not be permitted.
This is currently the requirement
on state land and in state buildings
per Executive Order 170.1, issued in
2018 to protect Caribbean and other
immigrants who are accessing essential
services on state property to do
so without fear of arrest.
Sen. Brad Hoylman, chair of the
New York Senate Judiciary Committee
said, “This new law is a powerful
rebuke to the outgoing Trump
administration and their immigration
policies that have undermined
our judicial system.
“After today, New York’s courts
will no longer be hunting grounds
for federal agents attempting to
round-up and initiate deportation
proceedings against immigrants,” he
said. “The Protect Our Courts Act
bars ICE from making warrantless
civil arrests of immigrants attending
court proceedings and gives New
Yorkers the peace of mind that our
courthouses remain sanctuaries of
justice.
“I’m grateful to Governor Cuomo
for signing this bill into law and Senate
Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-
Cousins for making immigrant rights
a priority issue, as well as Assemblymember
Michaelle Solages and
the coalition of advocacy organizations
that fought for this bill, including
the Immigrant Defense Project,
Make the Road New York and the
New York Immigration Coalition,”
Hoylman added.
He expressed gratitude to Attorney
General Letitia James for her
“successful legal challenge to ICE’s
outrageous courthouse arrest practices.”
Solages, the Haitian American
chair-elect of the New York State
Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic &
Asian Legislative Caucus said: “The
individual rights granted to all New
Yorkers by the US Constitution
should not be dependent upon who
holds the office of the presidency.
“There is a real and tangible fear
among the immigrant community
that the courts are not safe from
ICE intervention, often creating a
dangerous barrier for justice,” said
Solages, a third- term legislator, who
was first elected to represent the
22nd Assembly in November of 2012.
Continued from Page 1
Prime Minister of The Bahamas Hubert
Minnis addresses the 74th session
of the United Nations General
Assembly at U.N. headquarters in
New York, U.S., Sept. 27, 2019. REUTERS
/ Lucas Jackson, File
PROTEST
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