Jamaica receives 22 third-country US deportees

Jamaica has received its first 22 deportees from the United States under a controversial agreement with the Trump administration, joining a growing number of Caribbean and Central American countries participating in Washington’s third-country deportation programme.

The arrival of the 15 men and seven women on Tuesday, 13 Oct., has renewed concerns over national security and transparency surrounding an agreement whose full terms have not been made public.

The group, representing seven nationalities, predominantly from Latin America, arrived at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston. None are nationals of CARICOM countries and Jamaican authorities say none has a criminal record.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security and Peace Dr Horace Chang confirmed on Wednesday that the individuals had been granted visitor status and transferred to the International Organization for Migration, which will oversee their accommodation and onward travel to their home countries or other receiving countries.

“The operation was incident-free,” Chang said, explaining that the group underwent identity verification and processing by immigration, customs, police and health authorities before being handed over to the International Organization for Migration.

Their arrival marks the first implementation of a memorandum of understanding signed with Washington on 10 June, allowing Jamaica to serve as a temporary transit point for people deported from the US.

Under the agreement, Jamaica can receive up to 25 individuals every fortnight, with the government insisting that no one with a criminal background will be accepted and that Jamaican taxpayers will not bear the costs. The United States is funding the International Organization for Migration’s services.

However, the agreement remains undisclosed, prompting opposition politicians and human rights advocates to question its legal, financial and security implications.

Opposition demands transparency

The opposition People’s National Party has repeatedly demanded that the agreement be tabled in Parliament.

“The Government is asking Jamaicans to accept a security arrangement they have not been allowed to see,” opposition spokesman on national security Fitz Jackson said.

“We have not been told where these individuals will be housed, under what security conditions, or who will be responsible for monitoring them.”

The People’s National Party has also questioned what happens if migrants’ home countries refuse to accept them, who bears legal liability and how security and healthcare costs will be covered.

Opposition spokeswoman on foreign, regional and diaspora affairs Senator Donna Scott-Mottley called the government’s approach “policy by press release,” arguing that disclosing arrival limits without publishing the agreement was insufficient.

Public opposition has also surfaced. According to the Jamaica Observer, demonstrators wearing shirts bearing the slogan “Stand Up for Jamaica” protested in downtown Kingston on Tuesday.

Human rights advocate Susan Goffe has also called for the agreement and documents governing its implementation to be made public.

Government defends safeguards

Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson Smith defended the arrangement visa social media on Tuesday, saying Jamaica had negotiated safeguards to protect its citizens, including refusing deportees with criminal backgrounds.

“We have made every effort to negotiate this transit agreement with protection of Jamaica and the Jamaican people in mind,” she said.

Johnson Smith acknowledged that Washington had not agreed to the publication of the memorandum but maintained that its contents were not prejudicial.

The agreement also provides for suspension if 10 individuals apply to remain in Jamaica through asylum or other humanitarian processes.

The government insists the programme is strictly for temporary transit, not permanent resettlement.

Chang said the first arrivals were screened by multiple agencies, with translators assisting communication, and maintained that the process respected both national security and the migrants’ dignity.

Part of wider US deportation drive

Jamaica’s participation comes amid growing international scrutiny of the Trump administration’s third-country deportation policy, under which migrants are sent to countries other than their own, sometimes without any previous connection to the receiving nation.

In an 8 October report, Human Rights Watch said nearly 28,000 people had been transferred to more than 50 third countries between January 2025 and August 2026, raising concerns about migrants potentially being sent onward to countries where they face persecution or torture.

By late September, Washington had secured third-country transfer arrangements with at least 36 countries, according to the organisation.

Within the Caribbean and Central America, countries with various forms of migration arrangements include Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Costa Rica, Dominica, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, St Kitts and Nevis and St Lucia.