Fewer Jamaicans Attempting to Illegally Enter the USA Via Mexico

Fewer Jamaicans are travelling through Mexico in a bid to illegally enter the United States of America (USA).

“I understand that the numbers are down. The United States have changed their policy… they have a thing that if you cross the border illegally and you are identified and deported, you are banned from even applying for a regular tourist visa for five years,” Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith said.

She was speaking on the ‘Good Morning Minister’ Programme on Love 101-FM on Wednesday (August 23).

Senator Johnson Smith argued that “some people feel like they are smarter than the system, but that is not the case”.

“The systems are becoming more sensitive, and they are sharing more information. We know that there are people being turned back from Panama as well. Remember Panama is how most people get to Mexico. So sometimes they are turned back from Panama before they get to Mexico,” she stated.

“Maybe you had an old conviction, and you don’t even remember about it in the US, and you are going to Panama. But the US and Panama now share a lot of information, so it’s going to flag you in Panama,” Senator Johnson Smith added.

The Minister reiterated that Jamaica was engaging with Panama and Mexico on these matters “which cause us concern where it seems to us that they have even gone beyond persons who are travelling illegally and starting to affect our legitimate travellers”.

Senator Johnson Smith pointed out that when Jamaicans illegally enter a country it changes the island’s profile.

“Fundamentally, it changes the profile of our travellers, and it makes it more difficult for us to lobby for visa facilitation. It is one of the things that are taken into consideration,” she stated.

The Minister also addressed the issue of Jamaica not being part of Canada’s expanded electronic travel authorisation (eTA) programme.

Canada recently announced the addition of 13 countries to the eTA programme.

Travellers from these countries who have either held a Canadian visa in the last 10 years or who currently hold a valid United States non-immigrant can now apply for an eTA instead of a visa when travelling to Canada by air.

“I had asked their High Commissioner to come in to meet with me, which she did. The first thing is our refusal rate for visa applications was double the threshold that they had for countries that were eligible for eTA. And why were our people refused at such a high rate? Because we do not complete the form, so people feel that we are being dishonest,” Senator Johnson Smith said.

Another issue is the use of unauthorised agents.

“We think that any travel agent can apply for your visa for you. But the Canadians have a list of authorised agents on their webpage, and we go to all manner of persons. There are people who apply for visas… and they will add on three random people. So they recognise that this type of activity takes place with some of the unauthorised [agents]. So they don’t accept from every and anybody,” Senator Johnson Smith said.

“So, when you use an unauthorised agent… not only would you be refused just for that, but you are adding up the statistics for Jamaicans who act outside of the system,” she added.

Senator Johnson Smith also mentioned the number of Jamaicans who overstay on the visa legitimately granted and those who travel on the visa granted and then seek asylum for some other reason as a contributary factor to not being on the list.