ST JOHN'S, Antigua (CMC):

Antigua and Barbuda's chief immigration officer Don McKinnon yesterday defended the government's decision to ask regional journalists Lennox Linton of Dominica and Trini-dadian Vernon Khelawan to leave the country Wednesday.

McKinnon, who broke his department's silence on the issue while appearing on OBSERVER Radio's morning programme, said the authorities merely enforced the law regarding Linton and Khelawan .The immigration boss said both journalists were interviewed about their alleged illegal working activities before they were deported within 24 hours of each other on Tuesday and Wednesday.

No roughing-up

"They were no handcuffs involved. There was no roughing-up at all," McKinnon told the public. "We need to recognise that this is not a situation that is peculiar to Mr. Linton or Mr. Khelawan. The fact remains, when you are in Antigua and Barbuda we are bound by laws and we need to recognise that a number of people throughout the years have simply ignored the directions, especially when it comes to immigration and labour.

"Now, the Labour Department and the Immigration Department have taken a stance. There is a zero tolerance for illegal workers. Our information was that Mr. Linton was employed illegally. You know we can't reveal our sources. We got good information and we acted on it. We are comfortable with the information we got. That's basically the same information applied to Mr. Khelawan," the immigration chief added.

On the issue of Linton being granted time to be in Antigua, McKinnon said "It is conditional time (which stipulates) that you cannot engage in any form of occupation - once you do that you break the contract, so to speak."

He declined to say the job Linton was doing.

"That I prefer not to get into at this point," McKinnon said.

Legal action

Linton's lawyer, Antiguan John Fuller, said the government can expect legal action.

"He (Linton) is not a man who takes an injustice lying down, and he and his supporters have instructed me and other lawyers to do what is necessary to make what was wrong right," Fuller told the Daily OBSERVER newspaper.