Categories of prohibited immigrants

(1) Subject to section 2 (3) of this Act, the following persons are prohibited immigrants16 (a) any person who is likely if he enters Belize to become a charge on public funds by reason of infirmity of body or mind or of ill health or who is not in possession of sufficient means to support himself and such of his dependants as he shall bring with him to Belize; (b) any idiot or any person who is insane or mentally deficient or any person who is deaf and dumb or deaf and blind, or dumb and blind, unless in any such case he or a person accompanying him or some other person gives security to the satisfaction of the Director for his permanent support in Belize or for his removal therefrom whenever required by the Director; (c) any person certified by a medical practitioner to be suffering from a communicable disease which makes his entry into Belize dangerous to the community; (d) any stowaway; (e) any prostitute or homosexual or any person who may be living on or receiving or may have been living on or receiving the proceeds of prostitution or homosexual behaviour; (f) the children under the age of sixteen years, being dependents of a prohibited immigrant; (g) any member of a class of persons deemed by the Minister on economic grounds or on account of standard or habits of life to be undesirable immigrants and so declared by Order published in the Gazette; 17 (h) any person who, from information or advice which in the opinion of the Minister is reliable information or advice, is deemed by the Minister to be an undesirable inhabitant of or visitor to Belize; (i) any person who, not having received a free pardon, has been in any country convicted of an offence for which a sentence of imprisonment has been passed and who for this reason is deemed by the Minister to be an undesirable immigrant; (j) any person who has been refused a visa to enter Belize by a Belize Consular Officer, or in the case of a country where there is no Belize Consular Officer, then by the British Consular Officer or by any person authorised by the Belize Government to grant visas to enter Belize; (k) persons who are engaged or at any time have been engaged or are suspected on reasonable grounds of being likely to engage in any unlawful giving, using or inducing other persons to use, distributing, selling, offering to sell or exposing for sale, buying, trading or trafficking in drugs; (l) persons concerning whom there are reasonable grounds for believing that they are likely to engage in espionage, sabotage or other subversive activity of any kind directed against Belize or detrimental to the security of (m) persons who have been reasonably suspected of engaging in treasonable activities against 18 Belize or of assisting her enemies in times of war; (n) any person who enters or leaves Belize or remains in Belize in contravention of any of the provisions of this Act. (2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act, the Minister may exempt any person from the provisions of paragraphs (a) to (g) of sub-section (1) of this section. (3) No appeal shall lie against the decision of the Minister in regard to any of the persons mentioned in sub-section (1)(g), (h) and (i), unless such appeal be directed to identity only of the person affected by the decision. (4) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the Minister may prohibit or permit the entry of any immigrant into CAP. 103. (5) In this section, “drugs” means any plant or substance the cultivation, manufacture, transport, import, export, possession, sale or use of which is prohibited by the Misuse of Drugs Act.