MARKS... this sort of panic and labelling of Jamaicans who are going home, I want us to really not do that
February 1, 2025
It’s not true!
Ambassador Marks dismisses rumours that 90,000 Jamaicans slated for deportation from US
JAMAICA’S Ambassador to the United States Audrey Marks is appealing to Jamaicans to desist from creating panic by overstating the number of Jamaicans likely to be deported from the United States under the stepped-up enforcement measures of President Donald Trump’s Administration.
Far from the 90,000 being bandied about, Marks confirmed that 5,120 Jamaicans are marked for deportation by our North American neighbour. She confirmed the number Thursday night during her monthly Let’s Connect conversation town hall, the first for 2025, held via Zoom.
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Immigration and investment were the two main topics discussed, and the two-hour session attracted hundreds of participants.
“There are some headlines out there that 90,000 Jamaicans going back or 6,000, and there’s a feeling of panic as if there’s something wrong with Jamaicans,” Marks said in her opening remarks.
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“We’re not in a panic situation,” she added.
Pointing to a document from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) which indicates that roughly 1,450,000 people from 180 countries are marked for deportation, Marks said that number includes 5,120 Jamaicans. The ambassador explained that the individuals are not currently detained but are on record with ICE for deportation.
Significantly, she highlighted that the number of Jamaicans make up just about half of one per cent of the list. That number, she said, places Jamaica in 15th place among regional countries with the highest number of potential deportees. Of import is that many of those marked for deportation are not detained.
Marks also described as a routine operation the issue of the plane carrying 56 returnees to Jamaica on Thursday, saying it was not linked to the Trump mandate. She said four of the returnees served time in the United States for murder, while the majority of the others were caught up in immigration breaches, having overstayed their time in the country. Three of the lot were taken into custody for further investigations based on the screening process people are subjected to once they are returned to Jamaica.
“So this sort of panic and labelling of Jamaicans who are going home, I want us to really not do that,” Marks said, before disclosing that many Jamaicans are calling to find out how they can return home without going through a system of detention. She said there are immigration lawyers and processes in place to help those individuals.
Marks noted that Trump was not the only president to order mass deportations.
“It is important that we do not get caught up in the hype and get distracted by a system that is working and has been working for maybe the last 30 years. There’s nothing new going on. The Trump-Vance Administration did come in with a mandate to secure their border and to increase the enforcement of immigration procedures, and it’s their right to do so — just like Jamaica will do so whenever we have persons who are not in Jamaica legally,” she said.
“There’s no judgement, what we have is cooperation, and in Jamaica we’re making sure that we do the proper verification, and the proper screening, and then proper reintegration of our citizens,” Marks added.
Finance and the Public Service Minister Fayval Williams was one of the invited guests on Let’s Connect. The others were US-based immigration lawyers Sekou Clarke and Xavier Francis. Williams gave an overview of Jamaica’s economy, while Clarke and Francis offered tips on how people can regularise their status in the United States.
