Gov't seeks answers from US about deportation of Jamaicans to Eswatini

 

 

 

The Government of Jamaica says it has formally sought answers from the Trump administration over the deportation of Jamaican nationals to the African Kingdom of Eswatini under the United States' third-country deportation programme.

 

The Foreign Ministry said following reports that three Jamaicans were sent to Eswatini, Jamaica's High Commission in South Africa confirmed that two refused to return to Jamaica.

 

Orville Etoria was deported to Eswatini in July 2025 and held in a maximum-security prison in the African nation for more than seven weeks without charge.

 

Mr. Etoria returned to Jamaica last September. 

 

The deportations are part of the Trump administration's largely secretive third-country programme to crack down on illegal immigration.

 

The US Department of Homeland Security said Mr. Etoria had been convicted of murder.

 

Speaking at Wednesday's post Cabinet press briefing, Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith said the government has requested the rational behind the deportations and is awaiting a response from the United States administration.

 

"We had also sought a formal response from the United States government on the circumstances around which it was determined that they should go to Eswatini, but we have not received a formal response," she noted.

 

Meanwhile, Mrs. Johnson Smith has doubled down that Jamaica will not be receiving 10,000 third-country nationals under the proposed arrangement with the United States. 

 

"Whatever the procedures that are agreed, 10,000 people are not coming under the MOU. 10,000 people are not coming. The arrangement's proposal is for up to 25 persons per fortnight, and it is not committed that every fortnight people will come. Secondly, there are no criminals that are coming under this arrangement. Thirdly, the individuals that are coming are coming to transit. They are not coming to stay," she insisted.

 

The minister said discussions on the TCN framework are still ongoing, with operational procedures yet to be finalised.

 

The foreign minister said the United Nation's agency responsible for immigration matters will oversee the accommodation of any TCNs in Jamaica as well as their return to their home country.