Nine more US deportees leave Jamaica under TCN arrangement

Nine more of the third-country nationals (TCNs) sent to Jamaica from the United States under a deportation arrangement have left the island, bringing the number who have departed to 10.

Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith made the announcement at Wednesday’s post-Cabinet press briefing, saying 11 individuals were at various stages of the departure process.

A total of 22 third-country nationals arrived at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston on October 13 under an agreement between the Jamaican and United States governments.

Johnson Smith said the remaining individuals were being assisted with their departure through arrangements facilitated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which continues to provide care for the group.

The announcement follows a disclosure by the minister on Tuesday that only one person had left Jamaica, while another had expressed a desire to remain in the country.

Johnson Smith said discussions were under way with the individual seeking to stay to remind them that the arrangement was intended to facilitate transit, rather than permanent settlement.

At Wednesday’s briefing, the minister also sought to clarify concerns about whether Jamaica could receive deportees with criminal records under the agreement.

She said Jamaica had negotiated safeguards to ensure that people with criminal antecedents were not sent to the island under the arrangement.

“There are countries which have agreed to receive criminals. They exist. When the United States speaks about sending criminals under the TCN agreements, they send them to those countries. Jamaica is not one of them,” she said.

Johnson Smith explained that, apart from violations of US immigration laws, the individuals sent to Jamaica were not criminals.

She said the individuals were vetted by both the US and Jamaican authorities before entering the country.

The first group that came to Jamaica comprised 15 men and seven women from Ecuador and a European country. No children were among the arrivals.

Under the arrangement, Jamaica is expected to receive no more than 25 third-country nationals every two weeks. The programme is also to be suspended if 10 or more individuals seek to remain in Jamaica through asylum applications or other humanitarian processes.

The individuals have been granted 90-day landing status while arrangements are made for their onward travel.

The agreement has attracted public scrutiny because the individuals are not Jamaican nationals but people being removed from the United States to a country other than their own.

The Government has maintained that the arrangement provides for temporary transit, with the IOM assisting with accommodation and onward travel.

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