News
JAM | Jan 29, 2025

Thousands of Caribbean nationals await deportation orders, ICE data reveals

Gavin Riley

Gavin Riley / Our Today

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

Jamaicans are among thousands of Caribbean nationals scheduled for forceful removal from the United States, as the Trump administration makes good on promises to clamp down on illegal immigration.

Some 5,120 undocumented, non-detained Jamaicans are facing deportation orders as of November 2024, according to statistics provided by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Forced mass expulsions of Jamaican nationals under ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) have jumped nearly 1,450 per cent, Our Today checks have uncovered—up from 446 deportations in the 2024 financial year, which began in October 2023 and ended last September.

Migrants are escorted across the Hidalgo International border Bridge as they are deported under Title 8, a law that allows for immediate deportation after crossing into the U.S. without authorization, in McAllen, Texas, U.S., January 27, 2025. (Photo: REUTERS/Daniel Becerril)

Embargo-ravaged Cuba will have the greatest influx of repatriations across the Caribbean, with 42,084 removal orders up to November 2024, followed by Haiti (32,363), the Dominican Republic (12,699), Jamaica (5,120) and Guyana (1,236) rounding out the five most affected countries.

Just Tuesday (January 28), ICE reported over 969 single-day arrests as raids were conducted in several states, including New York, Georgia and Florida, areas where sections of the Jamaican Diaspora are concentrated.

A supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump talks on his phone in front of protesters opposing possible Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in public schools outside the State Department of Education during their monthly board meeting in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. January 28, 2025. (Photo: REUTERS/Nick Oxford)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined in an immigration enforcement operation that arrested several people in New York City yesterday, with reports of officers receiving ‘arrest quotas’, though ICE has not provided detailed statistics on the arrests of alleged criminal offenders since Trump took office.

See breakdown of removals by citizens from Central America and the Caribbean:

CountryNumber of Non-citizen removals (as at November 2024)
Antigua & Barbuda110
Aruba2
Bahamas426
Barbados151
Belize899
Bermuda10
Cayman Islands 2
Costa Rica2,116
Cuba42,084
Dominica104
Dominican Republic12,699
El Salvador203,822
French Guiana6
Grenada149
Guadeloupe12
Guatemala253,413
Guyana1,236
Haiti32,363
Honduras261,651
Jamaica5,120
Mexico252,044
Montserrat8
Netherland Antilles6
Nicaragua45,995
Panama662
St Kitts & Nevis68
St Lucia202
St Vincent & the Grenadines127
Suriname137
Trinidad & Tobago1,197
Turks & Caicos Islands25
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Barbados Belize Caribbean Cuba Enforcement and Removal Operations final removal orders Government of the United States Haiti Immigration and Customs Enforcement Jamaica mass deportation New York City President Donald Trump Secretary Kristi Noem St Lucia St Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago United States

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