Bahamas plans tougher smuggling laws as US presses migration issue

The Bahamas is proposing to impose harsher penalties on human smugglers, a move that officials say they hope will help dismantle criminal organizations that use the Caribbean nation as a staging point to smuggle migrants into the United States.



"The Bahamas will not be a stepping stone for illegal migration into the United States," Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis told Reuters on Thursday. "We are tightening our laws, stepping up joint operations with the U.S. government and the Trump administration, and dismantling the smuggling routes that run through our islands."



Under proposed legislation, anyone convicted of endangering the life of a migrant, smuggling a pregnant migrant, or smuggling a group of more than 10 migrants would face fines of up to $300,000 and 15 years in prison.