Jamaica received its first group of migrants deported from the United States under a third-country arrangement on Tuesday, according to the supplied report. The flight brought 22 people to Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport.
The U.S. and Jamaica signed a memorandum of understanding in June allowing transfers to begin. The arrangement limits arrivals to 25 people per fortnight, the report says.
In a joint statement, Jamaica’s ministries responsible for national security and foreign affairs characterized the arrangement as a transit measure to help return people to their countries of origin or find other receiving countries, with support from the International Organization for Migration. The statement said Jamaica would not fund the arrangement and would not allow people with criminal antecedents to transit through the country.
The U.S. policy applies to migrants whose claims include that returning them to their home countries would be dangerous. Its legality is the subject of ongoing litigation, and the Supreme Court is expected to consider the issue in December. The court allowed the administration to continue removals while the case proceeds, according to the source. Three justices—Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson—said they would have rejected the administration’s request to keep the policy in effect during the litigation.
The source reports that lower courts have required procedures allowing migrants to raise claims that they could face persecution or torture in a proposed destination. The legal dispute remains unresolved; the court’s interim action does not determine the final merits of the policy.
