By Kimone Witter
A little over five thousand Jamaicans are listed among more than 1.4 million non-citizens on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement non-detained docket with final orders of removal.
According to the document published by ICE, as at November 24 last year, there were 5,120 Jamaican nationals who would be targeted for removal.
The island is also listed among 11 countries considered to be at risk of non-compliance in accepting the return of their nationals.
The Caribbean island of St. Lucia is also included on this list.
ICE noted that while At Risk of Non-Compliance countries accept removals, they fail to meet one or more cooperative country criteria, which may include delaying the issuance of travel documents; refusing to accept certain categories of their nationals; or not accepting chartered removal flights.
There has been renewed focus on undocumented immigrants in the US following the execution of the Trump administration's plan to impose severe limits on immigration.
In the meantime, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has listed several other Caribbean countries whose citizens are facing deportation.
Haiti tops the list for the region with 32,363 individuals, followed by the Dominican Republic with 12,699 and third is Jamaica.
Smaller Caribbean nations are also featured, including Barbados with 151, St. Lucia 202, and Grenada 149.
Mexico leads the global list with a staggering 252,044 cases.
Caribbean governments have been urged to be proactive and put contingency plans in place to receive their nationals.
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