Jamaica Accepts First Third-Country Deportation Flight from United States

Opposition Leaders in Jamaica Question Why Deportation Agreement with Trump's White House Has Not Been Made Public

The Caribbean nation of Jamaica received its first third-country expulsion from the United States as part of a series of international agreements expanding under President Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, 22 deportees from the United States arrived at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica.

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The end of the list of media reports indicates that they were subsequently put on a bus and taken to an unknown location.

Such deportations – which often involve non-citizens with no connection to their destination – have drawn widespread condemnation from rights groups and advocates who have questioned their legality.

But Jamaica is among a growing number of countries accepting third-country deportations as part of Trump's bid to implement the largest mass deportation campaign in US history.

According to Third Country Deportation Watch, an advocacy project affiliated with the international groups Refugees and Human Rights First, at least 35 countries have concluded third-country deportation agreements with the United States.

The Washington Post reported last month that the Trump administration has earmarked nearly $410 million to support such efforts.

Jamaica signed a bilateral memorandum of understanding in June to receive deportations from third countries.

The country's government has also 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," the Jamaican Ministry of National Security and Peace and the Jamaican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade said in a joint statement.

It added that the care of the deportees will be supported by the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations agency.

"This arrangement will not be funded by the Government of Jamaica," the joint statement added.

Jamaica's opposition leaders, however, spoke out against the island's deportation, describing the deal as a threat to the island's security. They also questioned why the agreement had not been discussed publicly.

"Jamaicans are being asked to trust a confidential document that affects their security, communities and public services," said Fitz Jackson, the opposition's national security spokesman.

In response to Jackson's comments, Secretary of State Kamina Johnson-Smith argued that any questions about the deportation agreement "have been answered." He also noted that the United States had not agreed to make the agreement public.

As I explained earlier, some countries have accepted to accept criminals. Not us," he wrote on social media.

Some countries have made their agreements public, but our partner has not agreed to this agreement.

Legal challenges to third-country deportations continue in the United States, where defense attorneys have argued that deportees are being removed without due process, the constitutional right to a fair trial.

Critics have also argued that deportations from third countries sometimes send migrants to countries where they may face danger.

Some recipient countries, such as South Sudan, are in the midst of ongoing conflicts or have faced allegations of serious human rights violations.

Opponents have even said that third-country deportations are being used as a backdoor method to circumvent court protection orders.

Such orders may prohibit the US government from returning some immigrants to their home countries for fear of violence and persecution.

But by sending migrants to third countries, critics say the Trump administration avoids violating such protection orders — although in some cases, the third country has then returned the deportee to a country specified in the US protection order.

In a February report by Democrats to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, one official said on condition of anonymity that such far-fetched dismissals are aimed at instilling fear.

"The point is that the government can threaten people that they will literally be left in the middle of nowhere," the official said. "The point is to scare people."