‘I can’t dictate US policy’ - Marks speaks out, denies proposing controversial third-country nationals deal with Trump admin

Cabinet Minister Audrey Marks has denied proposing the controversial deal under which Jamaica would receive up to 10,000 third-country nationals (TCNs) from the United States (US).

Marks said media reports have conflated the TCN Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a separate proposal she developed in March last year as Jamaica’s Ambassador to Washington to recruit skilled foreign workers.

Speaking yesterday at the National Corporate Consultation on Workforce Alignment and Jamaica’s Economic Competitiveness, at the Institute for Workforce Education and Development (IWED) Corporate Consultation, Marks also suggested that the furore was intended to damage her reputation.

“To make it clear, the TCN requests originated in the United States... I noticed that there were all kinds of suggestions that I originated a TCN. Now I’m good at some things, but I’m not that good that I could dictate US policy,” she said.

She said the US has already entered into TCN deportation agreements with 27 countries and has ongoing negotiations with at least 54 others.

Marks said Jamaica was approached on January 2, 2026 to also consider facilitating third-country nationals being removed from the US.

A diplomatic note from the US Embassy in Kingston, shared with The Gleaner in June, states that Marks, the former Jamaican ambassador to the US and current minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for efficiency, innovation, and digital transformation, made the proposal “for a third-country national arrangement that would have Jamaica receive up to 10,000 third-country nationals from the United States”.

The note states that she made the proposal to a US official attached to the US Department of Homeland Security during the Americas Counter Cartel Conference at the US Southern Command in Miami, Florida on March 5, 2026.

After revealing the existence of the MOU, The Gleaner sought responses from Marks to several questions about whether she played a role in the development of the proposed arrangement.

On June 17, The Gleaner asked the minister, via WhatsApp, what role, if any, she played in initiating or advancing discussions with US counterparts on the arrangement.

Marks was also asked, if she played any role, whether she acted on her own initiative or if she was operating under instruction from Cabinet or the line minister.

Further, the minister was asked, if she played a role, when did the discussion with US counterparts take place?

In a late night response however, Marks would not respond directly to the questions raised.

“It is actually not protocol to comment on the matters that fall in the portfolio of other ministers. The only comment that I could make is that I supported the MOU as part of the Cabinet-approved process and decision,” she had said then.

However, in speaking out on the matter yesterday, Marks said the discussions around the TCN MOU were being conflated with a proposal she made to recruit skilled workers to Jamaica while serving as Jamaica’s ambassador to the US in March 2025.