Jamaica accepts first flight of third-country deportations from US

Opposition leaders in Jamaica have questioned why the deportation deal with the Trump White House has not been made public.

Costa Rican authorities receive a flight carrying 25 third-country deportees from the US on April 11, 2026 [Mayela Lopez/Reuters]

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

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

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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.

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

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.

The Washington Post reported last month that the Trump administration has earmarked roughly $410m to support 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.

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,” Jamaica’s Ministry of National Security and Peace and its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade said in a joint statement.

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

“The arrangement will not be funded by the Government of Jamaica,” the joint statement added.

Opposition leaders in Jamaica, however, spoke out against the deportation, framing the deal as a threat to the island’s security. They also 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,” said Fitz Jackson, the opposition spokesperson on national security.

In response to Jackson’s statement, Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith argued that any questions about the deportation deal “have all been answered”. She also indicated that the US has not agreed to make the deal 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 also 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 said the third-country deportations are being used as a backdoor method for circumventing court protection orders .

Such orders may prohibit the US government 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.

In a February report by Democrats on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, one official said anonymously that the purpose of such far-flung deportations was to instil fear.

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

牙买加反对派领导人质疑为何与特朗普白宫达成的遣返协议没有公之于众。

2026年4月11日，哥斯达黎加当局接收了一架载有25名从美国遣返的第三国人员的航班。[Mayela Lopez/路透社]

加勒比海国家牙买加首次收到来自美国的第三国遣返令，这是唐纳德·特朗普总统领导下不断扩大的一系列国际协议的一部分。

周二，22名从美国被驱逐出境的人员抵达牙买加金斯顿的诺曼·曼利国际机场。

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媒体报道显示，他们随后被送上一辆巴士，并被带到一个未公开的地点。

此类驱逐行动——通常涉及与目的地没有任何联系的非公民——遭到了人权组织和倡导者的广泛谴责，他们质疑此类行动的合法性。

但牙买加是越来越多接受第三国遣返的国家之一，这是特朗普为实施美国历史上最大规模的遣返行动而采取的举措之一。

据与国际难民组织和人权第一组织有关联的倡导项目“第三国驱逐观察”称，至少有 35 个国家与美国签订了第三国驱逐协议。

《华盛顿邮报》上个月报道称，特朗普政府已拨款约 4.1 亿美元用于支持此类工作。

牙买加于6月签署了一份双边谅解备忘录，同意接收来自第三国的遣返人员。根据该计划，牙买加将在遣返人员抵达后将其送回原籍国或其他目的地。

该国政府也承诺不会接收任何有犯罪记录的被驱逐者。

牙买加国家安全与和平部和外交外贸部在一份联合声明中表示：“政府重申，这是一项过境安排，旨在方便第三国国民返回其原籍国或其他接收国。”

声明还补充说，被驱逐者的照料将得到联合国下属机构——国际移民组织的支持。

联合声明还补充说：“这项安排将不会由牙买加政府出资。”

然而，牙买加反对派领导人公开反对这项驱逐行动，认为该协议威胁到岛屿安全。他们还质疑为何该协议没有经过公开辩论。

“牙买加人被要求信任一份涉及他们安全、社区和公共服务的秘密文件，”反对党国家安全事务发言人菲茨·杰克逊说。

针对杰克逊的声明，外交部长卡米娜·约翰逊·史密斯辩称，有关遣返协议的任何问题“都已得到解答”。她还表示，美国尚未同意公开该协议。

“正如我之前解释过的，有些国家同意接收罪犯，但我们没有，”她在社交媒体上写道。

“有些国家的协议已经公开，但我们的合作伙伴尚未同意公开这项协议。”

在美国，针对第三国遣返的法律挑战仍在继续，倡导者们认为，被遣返者在没有经过正当法律程序、没有获得公平听证的宪法权利的情况下被驱逐出境。

批评人士还指出，将移民遣返至第三国有时会将他们送往可能面临危险的国家。

一些受援国，例如南苏丹，正处于持续冲突之中，或者面临严重侵犯人权的指控。

反对者甚至表示，将嫌疑人遣返至第三国被用作规避法院保护令的后门手段。

此类命令可能禁止美国政府将某些移民遣返回其祖国，因为担心他们会遭受暴力和迫害。

但批评人士表示，特朗普政府通过将移民送往第三国来避免违反此类保护令——尽管在某些情况下，第三国随后又将遣返者遣返回美国保护令中指定的国家。

美国参议院外交关系委员会民主党人在二月份的一份报告中，一位官员匿名表示，这种远距离驱逐的目的是为了制造恐惧。

“关键在于，政府可以威胁民众，说他们会被直接扔到荒郊野外，”这位官员说。“目的就是恐吓民众。”