Jamaica has agreed to serve as a temporary transit point for migrants deported from the United States.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security and Peace Horace Chang said Jamaica could receive up to 25 migrants every two weeks, with no more than 25 people in the country at one time.
“These are nationals of other countries other than Jamaica who are being facilitated through a structured process to transit through Jamaica to a third territory, including return to their home countries,” Chang said. “Jamaica is not opening its borders for an uncontrolled migration programme.”
Chang stated that Jamaica would not accept people with “criminal antecedents” and that the U.S. government would cover the costs. The migrants would not be detained, he said, and the International Organization for Migration would manage their accommodations.
The agreement has been signed, but Chang said “operational procedures” are still being negotiated. Jamaica would prefer English-speaking migrants, though he said there was “no guarantee either way.”
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson defended the policy.
“The Trump Administration is utilizing all lawful options to carry out the largest deportation operation in history, just as President Trump promised,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Anyone who has been deported received full due process.”
University of the West Indies lecturer Damion Gordon criticized the agreement as part of a “radical anti-immigration policy” that disproportionately affects migrants of color.
“Why not just deport them to their native countries as has always been the case?” Gordon asked. “Do we have the infrastructure to support this complex operation?”
Opposition spokesperson Donna Scott-Mottley also called for details about the migrants’ legal status, how long they would remain and what safeguards would protect Jamaica.
