September 18, 2026 - TEMPO Networks

By Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Thurs. Sept. 17, 2026: More than 22,000 people have been deported from the United States to at least 26 countries since February 2025 under a rapidly expanding third-country deportation program, according to a comprehensive tracker maintained by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. Third country deportations are deportations of an individual to a country with which they have no meaningful ties.

The Trump administration has pursued similar agreements with more than 50 countries in total, and at least $32.3 million in payments to five foreign governments has been confirmed by a Senate Foreign Relations Committee minority report, though most agreements remain undisclosed. Congress has not specifically appropriated funds for third country deportation payments to foreign governments.

Within the Caribbean specifically, at least eight CARICOM nations have entered agreements to accept individuals with no ties to their countries, with terms that vary significantly from nation to nation. They are:

Guyana – finalized one-year framework; first cohort arrived September 4th

Jamaica – MOU signed, still finalizing implementation terms.

Dominica – capped at 7/quarter (28/year); first transfer July 22, 2026.

St. Lucia – joined the arrangement.

St. Kitts and Nevis – limited primarily to citizens of other CARICOM member states except Haiti.

Grenada – announced a memorandum of understanding.

Antigua and Barbuda – agreed alongside Dominica in January 2026.

Belize – formal Safe Third Country Agreement, capped at 10/year, CARICOM and Central American nationals only, excluding Guatemalans.

Belize: a cap, and a Caribbean-specific carve-out

Belize signed a formal Safe Third Country Agreement with the US on October 20, 2025, a two-year deal capped at 10 refugees per year and explicitly limited to CARICOM and Central American nationals, excluding Guatemalans. Belize’s first transfer, on July 10, 2026, involved a single Haitian national; a second group of seven arrived July 30, including four Haitians, one Nicaraguan, one Salvadoran and one Honduran. Belize retains the right to examine deportees’ professional skills and criminal records before acceptance, and can terminate the agreement at any time.

St. Kitts and Nevis: CARICOM nationals only, with one notable exclusion

Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew announced a Memorandum of Understanding with the US on January 8, 2025, made public in March 2026 following a Freedom of Information Act request by Refugees International and Human Rights First. The agreement primarily limits eligibility to certain nationals of CARICOM member states, explicitly excluding Haitian nationals, with Drew citing capacity constraints.

Individuals with convictions for violent or sexual offenses are excluded, and St. Kitts and Nevis retains sole discretion over who it accepts, with the US covering relocation, housing and sustenance costs. Its first transfer, on May 19, 2026, involved three individuals from other CARICOM nations, specifically Jamaica and Belize.

Dominica: a strict quarterly limit

Dominica agreed in January 2026 to accept no more than seven people per quarter, a maximum of 28 individuals annually, and required the US to fund food, housing and related costs before agreeing to participate. Its first transfer flight arrived July 22, 2026 – five Colombian nationals.

Guyana: the region’s most recently finalized deal

Guyana’s one-year framework, finalized this month, saw its first cohort of 6 individuals – four Cubans and two Afghans, reportedly with no criminal records, arrive September 4, according to President Irfaan Ali, who has said Guyana retains full discretion over who it accepts.

Jamaica: still finalizing terms

Jamaica signed a memorandum of understanding with Washington earlier this year but has not yet begun receiving transfers, with Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith confirming this week that implementation is still being worked out with the IOM and multiple domestic agencies. Unlike several of its neighbors, the specific terms of Jamaica’s cap, funding structure and eligibility criteria have not been made public. Johnson Smith told reporters that Jamaica will begin receiving migrants after the IOM completes its assement.

“It has its own independent process that it undertakes, having engaged with PICA (Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency), MNSP (Ministry of National Security and Peace), and other relevant departments and agencies to make sure everyone is aligned,” the minister said. “The IOM will be the body that is responsible for the TCNs when they are here and for getting them back home, but the government receives them and hands them over to the IOM, so there is a process in which they need to do to make sure that they are, in fact, ready.”

A pattern of secrecy across the region

Across nearly every Caribbean agreement documented, a consistent pattern emerges: exact terms are rarely published, funding arrangements are often undisclosed at signing, and the agreements typically surface publicly only through government statements, leaked diplomatic notes or Freedom of Information Act requests filed by organizations including Refugees International and Human Rights First, long after they take effect.

Globally, the tracker documents far harsher outcomes in some non-Caribbean destinations. In Ghana, deportees have been chained during transport and left in neighboring Togo without documents. In Eswatini, deportees were held in a high-security prison in solitary confinement, with lawyers denied access for weeks. In South Sudan, individuals were detained in a converted shipping container near a burn pit before a federal judge intervened. No such conditions have been documented at any Caribbean destination so far, based on currently available reporting.

NewsAmericasNow will continue tracking third-country deportation agreements affecting the Caribbean. Data drawn from the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants’ Third Country Deportations Tracker.

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By Dr. Isaac Newton

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Thurs. Sept. 17, 2026: A minister wants a national project completed quickly. The permanent secretary says the rules must be followed. The minister sees urgency; the civil servant sees risk. The project stalls. Citizens wait. Each side believes the other is the problem. Who is right? The answer is uncomfortable: potentially both. This is the central tension of modern governance, especially in small states where limited resources, concentrated institutions and close relationships magnify every decision.

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong offers an important starting point. Some decisions are inherently political: how quickly to restructure an industry when jobs may disappear, how much citizens should contribute to social protection, or how much government should borrow today at tomorrow’s expense. These are choices about values, priorities and competing interests. Elected leaders must make them and own the consequences. But political authority cannot replace professional expertise. Civil servants provide evidence, institutional memory, technical judgment, legal safeguards and execution. Wong’s larger point is that a strong civil service cannot compensate for weak political leadership, just as strong political leadership cannot function well without a capable civil service.

For small island states, the danger lies at both extremes. Political leaders who bypass institutions can produce speed at the expense of integrity. Bureaucracies that treat every rule as sacred can produce compliance at the expense of results. The answer is disciplined agility: rules that protect public money, fairness and trust while allowing government to move; political leadership that drives results while respecting professional advice; and civil servants who can challenge decisions candidly without becoming an unelected veto. Every major initiative should therefore establish four things: a clear political objective, honest professional advice, defined accountability, and measurable results. When rules protect the public, enforce them. When outdated rules obstruct legitimate public value, reform them through lawful means.

The Right Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, four-term Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, captures the principle as “a healthy symmetry” between Ministers and civil servants, working together to achieve ministerial objectives while ensuring that bureaucratic rules are enforced “not to stifle progress and results but to ensure best practices are followed and governance priorities are delivered.” This provides a practical governing compact: politicians lead, professionals advise, institutions safeguard, and government delivers. Ministers must have the authority to decide; civil servants must have the courage to challenge; ministers must have the humility to listen; and civil servants must have the discipline to execute lawful decisions. Good governance is achieved when neither political power nor bureaucratic power dominates, but when both are disciplined by the same purpose: turning legitimate public decisions into better lives for citizens.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Isaac Newton is a leadership strategist, governance scholar, and author specializing in institutional excellence, ethical leadership, and human development. Educated at the University of the Southern Caribbean, Oakwood University, Princeton, Columbia, and Harvard, he writes on leadership, governance, and the development of people and institutions. He is the author of Fix It Preacher, Face Life Squarely, and Intimate Intimacy; and coauthor of Steps to Good Governance, Daring to Hope, When Nations Kneel, and The Belief Code.

By The Numbers: The Global Third-Country Deportation Deal CARICOM Nations Are Joining