The Supreme Court will have the final say on if Cuban refugee Raul Garcia will be released by the Immigration Department.
Justice Margaret Reifer ruled yesterday that the Supreme Court, and not the Minister with responsibility for Immigration (Prime Minister Freundel Stuart) or the Chief Immigration Officer, was the authority to determine whether Garcia’s extended detention, in spite of being a free man, was lawful because of the length of time.
“The court does have jurisdiction to hear this matter,” Justice Reifer said in a ten-minute decision, which supported what she called an “ancient prerogative” of filing a writ of habeas corpus.
The judge also said the length of Garcia’s detention and if it was unlawful for the Chief Immigration Officer to do so without being able to effect his deportation would be a central issue in the case.
