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The issue of Third Country Nationals (TCN) and taking in America’s unwanted immigrants was discussed at the CARICOM Heads of Government meeting held in Castries, St. Lucia.

U.S. President Donald Trump has made it clear that immigrants from third-world countries are not desired and that those who breached laws and regulations will be sent packing out of the country.

It’s a policy most Americans agree with.

The Trump administration is asking Caribbean countries to take in these undesirables and process them as a favour to the United States.

Many have complied, not wanting to fall out of favour with the greatest power on earth, which has the ability to decimate their small economies, which largely depend on tourism and remittances.

Populations across the region are sceptical about the TCN arrangement and fear these undesirables will come in, bring crime and other reprehensible behaviour, and then seek asylum. 

Caribbean governments are attempting to allay their citizens’ fears, as has been recently seen in Jamaica.

The list of Caribbean countries signing the MOUs is growing, and this pleases the Trump administration.

Whether they have the capacity to process and manage this influx of deportees is yet to be determined.

At the meeting held earlier this week, CARICOM  governments noted the longstanding cooperation and close partnership with the United States and acknowledged the importance attached to the proposed MOUs by the United States.

Jamaica is insisting that the MOU was proposed by the United States and not by Minister Without Portfolio Ambassador Audrey Marks and the Government of Jamaica. Ambassador Marks has said the ensuing controversy is due to a conflation of separate proposals misunderstood by the media.

“Heads of Government further agreed that every effort should be made to engage CARICOM citizens on these issues and affirmed their commitment to the principles of safe, orderly and regular migration and the dignity of migrants.

“MOUs were intended to provide for the transit of individuals without criminal antecedents to their home countries rather than settlement in member states and emphasised the need for citizens of the region to understand the difference,” read a statement from the meeting.

But what if their home countries do not want these reprobates? What happens if they are refused entry? Are there any legal implications here? Can they be sent back to the United States, or will they make new lives in the Caribbean?

CARICOM heads of Government are assuring efforts will be made to see to it that TCN arrangements do not disrupt the security of countries in the region or divert resources and services from the citizens of respective countries.

The Jamaican Government, for its part, is stressing that the TCN agreement is not labour recruitment. But it has to do a better job of communicating what the TCN entails and means for the country. 

What are the human rights considerations with this arrangement?  Should the  Jamaican government take this issue to parliament for a fulsome debate as it did with the establishment of The National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA)?

Chairman of the Regional Security System (RSS), St. Clair Leacock, has said that the United States will not punish Caribbean countries if they refuse to agree to take in Third Country Nationals.

“The specific status is a decision each country will make. The United States expects that the receiving country will provide an appropriate immigration status or a legal accommodation for individuals transferred under the arrangement,” said U.S. authorities.