MONTEGO BAY, St James — At the 11th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre on Tuesday, Jamaica’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security and Peace Dr. Horace Chang publicly refuted widespread circulating claims that the Caribbean nation is in negotiations to receive as many as 10,000 deportees from the United States, while offering clear, detailed clarification on the limited third-country national processing arrangement currently under discussion.
The false report, first published in local outlet *The Gleaner*, sparked widespread public and diaspora concern, with many fearing that thousands of non-Jamaican individuals convicted of crimes in the US would be relocated permanently to Jamaican territory. During an open question-and-answer session, conference attendee Clive Saunders pressed Chang for clarity, asking both to confirm or deny the rumor and outline any national benefits or potential public safety risks of the proposed arrangement, as well as whether a larger-scale transfer could be considered in the future.
Addressing the crowd directly, Chang first rejected the 10,000-deportee claim outright. “The report is false. There are no intentions to bring 10,000 illegal immigrants from the United States,” he stated. He confirmed that ongoing talks center on Jamaica’s participation in a regional Third-Country Nationals (TCN) agreement, developed in partnership with the United Nations International Organization for Migration, which facilitates temporary transitional processing of irregular migrants intercepted by the US before they are repatriated to their countries of origin.
Chang emphasized that the scale of the arrangement would be extremely small and tightly controlled. Under the proposed terms, no more than 25 third-country nationals will be present in Jamaica for processing at any given time, with total arrivals capped at fewer than 50 individuals per two-week period. The minister explained that the US has already secured similar preliminary agreements with multiple other regional nations, including Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, St Kitts and Antigua, as part of a broader strategy to manage irregular migration flows toward North America.
To further allay public anxiety, Chang outlined strict safeguards built into the draft memorandum of understanding (MOU). If any individual staying in Jamaica for processing chooses to apply for asylum under international law and elects to stay on the island, the entire program will be immediately halted. The arrangement also explicitly bars the transfer of any individual with a criminal record, and the United States will cover 100% of all operational costs associated with the program, removing any financial burden from Jamaican taxpayers.
In a formal press release issued later the same day, Chang reinforced that Jamaica’s national sovereignty remains fully protected throughout negotiations, and the government has not neglected its core responsibility to protect the interests of Jamaican citizens. “We were clear about our national interests and relied on our experience over many years in managing international migration matters to inform our position throughout the negotiations,” the release noted.
Chang added that the draft document is a non-binding MOU, not a formal treaty, and will not take effect until all pre-implementation requirements — including the finalization of detailed operational guidelines and safety protocols — are completed. The arrangement does not create any automatic obligation for Jamaica to accept any individual, and both the Jamaican and US governments retain the right to terminate the agreement at any time. No transfers will begin until both parties have signed off on all required operational procedures. The government has committed to sharing regular public updates as negotiations progress.