Government clarifies US third-country nationals deal is transit only, not labour recruitment

Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon, Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, has moved to separate Jamaica’s Third Country Nationals (TCN) arrangement with the United States from parallel discussions about attracting skilled workers to the island.

Speaking at the latest Jamaica Information Service Ministerial Update, Morris Dixon said Washington proposed the TCN programme and approached Jamaica on the same basis as other Caribbean and Latin American states that serve as transit points for people the US is transferring onward to other countries.

Her remarks follow confirmation that Jamaica has signed a memorandum of understanding allowing individuals transferred from the United States to pass through the island en route to final destinations, including their countries of origin.

Morris Dixon said an initial US overture later became mixed up with a separate conversation on skilled labour, requiring officials to draw a clear line. "No, no, no, no, no. TCN is this, and this is what we're negotiating. We're not having the conversation around that other program at this point. We're just talking about Third Country Nationals," she said, noting that talks have continued on that basis since the distinction was made.

She added that bilateral negotiations often unfold in stages and shift over time, which is why such discussions are rarely held in public.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security and Peace, Dr Horace Chang, stressed at this week’s post-Cabinet press briefing that people covered by the agreement are not being brought to Jamaica as permanent migrants.

Chang said the agreed quota allows 25 individuals to be facilitated every two weeks for transit through Jamaica to a third territory, including their home countries. He argued the arrangement does not offer people a pathway to build a new life in Jamaica, noting that most are headed home and that some may later seek to return to the United States — a pattern he compared to cases involving Jamaicans who transit briefly before moving on.

The Government said the deal followed extensive negotiations involving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, the Ministry of National Security and Peace, the Office of the Prime Minister, and the Attorney General’s Chambers.