Jamaican officials said the proposed arrangement with the Department of Homeland Security would allow up to 25 third-country deportees every two weeks to transit through the island while awaiting repatriation.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Jamaica is negotiating an agreement with the United States that would allow the island nation to temporarily receive some deportees from other countries as the Trump administration expands efforts to remove illegal immigrants from the United States.
Jamaican National Security Minister Horace Chang said Tuesday that Jamaica has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Homeland Security that would allow up to 25 non-Jamaican deportees every two weeks to be sent to the country while arrangements are made for their final repatriation.
The agreement has not yet been finalized.
If completed, Jamaica would join countries including Mexico, El Salvador and Uganda in working with the Trump administration on third-country deportations. Under those arrangements, migrants who have no legal right to remain in the United States may be transferred to another country before being returned to their home nations.
Chang said the deportees would not be held in detention, but the government has not yet disclosed where they would stay while in Jamaica. Compensation for Jamaica’s participation remains under negotiation.
“Jamaica, like other sovereign nations, is obligated under international laws to accept the return of its own citizens,” Chang said.
“However, this new arrangement does not mean third-country nationals are being dumped on our shores. This is a structured, managed process to transit individuals through Jamaica to their final destination,” he added.
Chang sought to distinguish the proposed arrangement from standard deportations of Jamaican nationals, saying the new talks involve a transit process for foreign citizens.
The ruling Jamaican Labour Party, considered nationalist and conservative, has faced criticism from the opposition People’s National Party over the negotiations. The PNP has accused the government of withholding information from the public and warned that accepting third-country deportees could affect Jamaica’s internal security, social services and international reputation.
“Jamaicans deserve to know whether discussions have taken place and whether any commitments or understandings have been reached,” Donna Scott Mottley said in a statement for the PNP.
DHS said the Trump administration is “utilizing all lawful options” to carry out deportations.
The third-country deportation policy remains the subject of ongoing litigation in the United States. In February, a U.S. federal district court ruled the policy unlawful, finding that migrants could not be sent to countries not previously designated without “meaningful” notice and a chance to challenge the decision.
The policy is still being enforced while the government appeals.
The Trump administration has used third-country agreements to deport more than 19,000 people, according to the group Third Country Deportation Watch. The group says some deportees have been sent to countries where they had no ties, and in some instances to nations they had never heard of.
Most third-country deportees have been sent to Mexico, according to the group. More than 1,500 others have been sent to more than 20 additional countries.
Several Caribbean governments have entered into arrangements with Washington involving deportees. The Dominican Republic signed a nonbinding agreement to temporarily hold a limited number of third-country nationals who had not been convicted of crimes, while excluding unaccompanied minors and nationals of neighboring Haiti.
Dominica’s prime minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, defended her government’s agreement with the United States as a “pragmatic step” aimed at preserving important relations with Washington. She said violent offenders would not be accepted.
Antigua and Barbuda adopted a more limited case-by-case approach. Prime Minister Gaston Browne capped participation at 10 non-criminal individuals.
Guyana is considering a U.S.-funded proposal to accept skilled, non-criminal migrants as the country seeks to fill an estimated shortage of 80,000 workers needed to support its oil boom.
DHS said in a September 2025 statement that the department and Trump were using “every tool available to get criminal illegal aliens out of American communities and out of our country.”
“If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, you could end up in CECOT, Eswatini, South Sudan, or another third country,” the statement said.
Trump made mass deportations of illegal immigrants, especially criminal gang members, a central part of his 2024 campaign. A January 2025 Ipsos poll found that two-thirds of respondents supported removing people who lack the legal right to remain in the United States.
Support was lower for some related policies. The same poll found 34% support for deporting illegal immigrants to third-party countries or deporting people who were brought into the United States illegally as children.
DHS last year introduced an app intended to help immigrants living illegally in the United States self-deport.
Trump has encouraged those without legal status to leave voluntarily, offering a $2,600 exit bonus rather than face law enforcement action.