Senate Erupts in Clash Over Jamaica-US Third-Country Nationals Transfer Deal

Debate in the Senate over the Civil Aviation (Amendment) Bill turned confrontational on Friday when Opposition Senator Lambert Brown charged that the Administration had agreed to accept into Jamaica individuals whom United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has publicly described as “despicable” under the third-country nationals (TCN) framework.

The dispute intensified after Senate President Tom Tavares-Finson cut in repeatedly, deactivated Brown’s microphone, and moved to have Hansard reflect that the Opposition senator was claiming the Government intended to bring “paedophiles, criminals and rapists” to Jamaica through the arrangement.

Brown had sought to contrast the Government’s rapid push to tighten aviation safety standards with what he called a ten-year delay in bringing the Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) Bill before Parliament. He argued that the Administration seemed more committed to safeguarding visitors than protecting Jamaican workers — a claim that drew a sustained point of order from Government Senator Sherene Golding Campbell.

Broadening his critique, Brown said the Government had consistently favoured foreign interests ahead of local ones, citing the TCN pact as the most recent case.

“I choose Jamaica. For you, choose Jamaica is a slogan… For me, it’s reality. I raise the issue: Why are you bringing to Jamaica the most despicable paedophiles, and dangerous people?” Brown said.

Tavares-Finson stepped in at once, rejecting Brown’s portrayal of the agreement and maintaining that the senator was assigning the Government a stance it had never taken.

“You heard what you said? Why is the Government of Jamaica choosing to bring Rubio’s paedophiles, and despicable people? That is the position of the People’s National Party?…Well, if that is the position, I want you to state on the record that that is the position of the People’s National Party, that the Jamaica Labour Party Government is bowing to Rubio to bring paedophiles and criminals to Jamaica. Let the record show that that is the position of the People’s National Party. Please have your seat,” the Senate president said as he switched off Brown’s microphone.

When Brown was later permitted to speak again, he maintained he was citing Rubio’s own statements rather than fabricating the language.

“I am saying here, that in choosing to bring the TCNs you are choosing what Rubio said, despicable paedophiles, who they want to get away from America,” Brown replied.

Tavares-Finson dismissed the argument once more and brought Brown’s intervention to a close.

Brown’s comments drew on remarks Rubio made at a United States Cabinet meeting in April, when he outlined Washington’s effort to secure agreements with other nations willing to take persons removed from US soil.

“We are working with other countries to say, ‘We want to send you some of the most despicable human beings to your countries. Will you do that as a favour to us?’ And the further away from America, the better, so they can’t come back across the border,” Rubio said.

He added: “I’m not apologetic about it. We are doing that. The president was elected to keep America safe and to get rid of a bunch of perverts and paedophiles and child rapists out of our country.”

Rubio did not name Jamaica in those comments, and he did not assert that every person transferred under such agreements fits those descriptions.

The Senate flare-up unfolded against rising public scrutiny of a memorandum of understanding recently reached between Jamaica and the United States.

Last week, Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang revealed that Jamaica had committed to receiving no more than 25 third-country nationals every two weeks, with transfers suspended whenever more than 10 individuals remained on the island.

Chang has pushed back repeatedly against characterisations of the persons involved as deportees, contending instead that they are third-country nationals whose countries of origin will not or cannot take them back.

He has also emphasised that Jamaica will not accept convicts under the deal, stating that each proposed transfer must pass health screening, identity verification, criminal record review, and clearance by the National Intelligence Bureau before approval.

According to Chang, anyone with a criminal history would be turned away on national security grounds.