Jamaica has received its first flight of third-country deportations from the United States, with 22 deportees arriving at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston on Tuesday. Media reports said they were then boarded onto a bus and taken to an undisclosed location.
Jamaica signed a bilateral memorandum of understanding in June to receive third-country deportees. Under the plan, Jamaica says it will transfer them to their home countries or other destinations after arrival, and the government has pledged not to accept any deportees with criminal records.
“The government reiterates that this is a transit arrangement intended to facilitate the return of Third Country Nationals to their country of origin or other receiving countries,” Jamaica’s Ministry of National Security and Peace and its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade said in a joint statement. The statement added that care for the deportees will be supported by the International Organization for Migration, a UN organisation, and that the arrangement will not be funded by the Government of Jamaica.
Opposition leaders spoke out against the deal, framing it as a threat to the island’s security and questioning why it had not been debated publicly. “Jamaicans are being asked to trust a secret document that touches their security, their communities and their public services,” said Fitz Jackson, the opposition spokesperson on national security.
Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith responded that questions about the deal have all been answered and that the United States has not agreed to make it public. “As I explained before, some countries have agreed to receive criminals, we have not,” she wrote on social media. “Some countries have had their agreements made public, but our partner has not agreed for this one to be.”
Third-country deportations, which often involve non-citizens with no ties to their destinations, have faced widespread condemnation from human rights groups questioning their legality. At least 35 countries have entered into such agreements with the US, according to Third Country Deportation Watch, an advocacy project affiliated with Refugees International and Human Rights First. The Washington Post reported last month that the Trump administration has earmarked roughly $410m to support the efforts. Jamaica is among a growing number of countries to participate as Trump pursues the largest mass deportation campaign in US history.