Story perspectives

Jamaica Receives First U.S. Deportation Flight With 22 Migrants

By Drooid · Oct 17, 2026, 6:10 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Jamaica received its first third-country deportation flight from the United States, carrying 22 migrants—15 men and seven women.
The MOU caps arrivals at 25 per fortnight, bans criminals, and tasks the International Organization for Migration (IOM) with return.
Opposition leaders Fitz Jackson and Mark Golding called the secret MOU a breach of parliamentary oversight.
Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith said the United States will not publish the memorandum.

History

Historical Context

The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, signed by President Bill Clinton, introduced expedited removal and broadened the definition of aggravated felonies, raising annual deportations from about 20,000 to over 180,000 and prompting 1.5 million removals that year. Earlier mass expulsions—1930s Mexican Repatriation and 1954 Operation Wetback—show a pattern of U.S.-driven third-country deportations, now echoed in Jamaica’s IOM-organized flight under a secret U.S.–Jamaica MOU.

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Story summary

Jamaica received its first third-country deportation flight from the United States, carrying 22 migrants—15 men and seven women.
The MOU caps arrivals at 25 per fortnight, bans criminals, and tasks the International Organization for Migration (IOM) with return.
Opposition leaders Fitz Jackson and Mark Golding called the secret MOU a breach of parliamentary oversight.
Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith said the United States will not publish the memorandum.

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