Jamaica accepts first flight of third-country deportations from US

As part of an expanding set of international agreements under President Donald Trump, the Caribbean country of Jamaica has received its first third-country deportations from the United States.

Key points

• On Tuesday, 22 deportees from the US arrived at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica.
• The Washington Post documented last month that the Trump administration has earmarked roughly $410m to backing such efforts.
• In response to Jackson's statement, Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith argued that any questions regarding the deportation agreement "have all been answered".
• It continued that care for the deportees will be backed by the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations organisation.
• In a February report by Democrats on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, one official remarked anonymously that the purpose of such far-flung deportations was to instil fear.

Media reports indicate they were subsequently boarded onto a bus and taken to an undisclosed location.

Such deportations – which often involve non-citizens who have no ties to their destinations – have faced widespread condemnation from human rights groups and advocates who have questioned their legality.

As part of Trump's effort to implement the largest mass deportation campaign in US history, but Jamaica is among a growing number of countries to accept third-country deportations.

At least 35 countries have entered into third-country deportation agreements with the US, according to Third Country Deportation Watch, an advocacy project affiliated with the groups Refugees International and Human Rights First.

Notably, the Washington Post documented last month that the Trump administration has earmarked roughly $410m to backing such efforts.

Jamaica signed a bilateral memorandum of understanding in June to receive third-country deportations. Under the plan, Jamaica will transfer any deportees to their home countries or other destinations after their arrival.

Notably, the country's administration has additionally 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 remarked in a joint statement.

"The arrangement will not be funded by the Government of Jamaica, " the joint statement continued.

Opposition leaders in Jamaica, nevertheless, spoke out against the deportation, framing the agreement as a threat to the island's security. They additionally questioned why the agreement had not been debated publicly.

"Jamaicans are being asked to trust a secret document that touches their security, their communities and their public services, " remarked Fitz Jackson, the opposition spokesperson on national security.

In response to Jackson's statement, Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith argued that any questions regarding the deportation agreement "have all been answered". She additionally indicated that the US has not agreed to produce the accord 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."

Legal challenges against the third-country deportations are ongoing in the US, where advocates have argued that deportees are being removed from the country without due process of law, the constitutional right to a fair hearing.

Critics have additionally argued that third-country deportations sometimes send immigrants to countries where they may face danger.

Some of the recipient countries, such as South Sudan, are in the midst of ongoing conflict or have faced accusations of serious human rights abuses.

Opponents have even remarked the third-country deportations are being employed as a backdoor method for circumventing court protection orders.

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

But by sending immigrants to third countries, critics say the Trump administration avoids violating such protection orders – though in some cases, the third country has then returned the deportee to the country identified in the US protection order.

"The point is that the administration can threaten people that they will literally be dropped in the middle of nowhere, " the official remarked. "The point is to scare people."

Taken together, the developments around jamaica accepts first flight of third point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.