Parliament presses government on TCN deportations as PNP demands Wheatley’s removal

Debate over Jamaica’s agreement to receive third country nationals deported from the United States intensified in Parliament on Saturday, 27 June 2026, as opposition figures warned the arrangement could strain rights protections and local capacity.

Attorney-at-law and opposition spokesperson on youth and human rights Isat Buchanan said some of those affected may have sought political asylum in the US. He argued Jamaica presently lacks the structures to manage the programme responsibly. “Do we have the laws in place? The answer to that currently is no,” he said, adding that domestic realities could conflict with international obligations under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, including articles 33 and 3.

The government has said Jamaica will accept up to 25 third country nationals every two weeks once the programme begins, and will not take additional arrivals if more than ten of those individuals remain in the country. Buchanan said fourteen days is insufficient to address serious claims, including torture-related concerns, especially with court backlogs already weighing on the judiciary.

He also raised fears that non-Jamaican nationals could remain stranded locally while Jamaicans abroad might not be returned home, drawing a parallel to Haitian arrivals in his constituency and urging humane treatment of Caribbean neighbours regardless of financial incentives tied to the US deal.

In the Senate, President Tom Tavares Finson switched off Senator Lambert Brown’s microphone after Brown sharply attacked the TCN agreement. Brown asked why Jamaica would accept what he described as dangerous deportees while, he claimed, the government showed less urgency for Hurricane Melissa victims and Jamaicans returning from the United Kingdom. Finson pressed Brown to clarify whether he spoke for the People’s National Party; Brown later said he was stating a personal view, not official party policy.

Separately, the PNP maintained that Prime Minister Andrew Holness must uphold integrity standards in the case of Dr Andrew Wheatley, minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for science, technology and special projects. The Integrity Commission, examining statutory declarations from 2010 to 2022, reported a J$164 million unexplained increase in wealth that Wheatley failed to adequately explain, and recommended prosecution for illicit enrichment, making false declarations and failing to provide information.

PNP Senator Cleveland Tomlinson, speaking at a divisional conference in Kingston on Friday, questioned why Wheatley remained in cabinet after the prime minister had removed him over earlier financial matters deemed less serious. Tomlinson repeated calls for Wheatley to resign or be dismissed immediately.

The Jamaica Teachers Association said students and teachers in parts of Western Jamaica still operate in cramped, overheated tents unfit for learning after Hurricane Melissa, and urged the education ministry to act before the new school year.

The Financial Investigations Division said courts ordered forfeiture of more than J$2 million in Jamaican and foreign currency in two 2024 cases: over J$1.8 million linked to Demo Campbell and Joshua Campbell in St Ann’s Bay, and US$251,500 linked to Peter Manning Jr after a stop on Spanish Town Road in Kingston and St Andrew.

Education Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon visited Mountain Park Primary in Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth, praising strong Primary Exit Profile results despite Melissa’s impact and presenting e-learning Jamaica laptops to top performers.

In regional news, Trinidad and Tobago’s government and private sector partners planned a national humanitarian collection drive from Monday for Venezuela after Wednesday’s earthquakes. The United Nations warned nearly seven million people may need emergency aid as authorities reported more than 1,400 deaths and tens of thousands missing. Internationally, a small aircraft crashed into a 108-storey tower in Beijing, closing roads as debris fell from the Sunward Aurora two-seater that had taken off from an airport about 30 miles east of the city.