US Mass Migrant Deportations: Challenging the Caribbean Narrative

A sundry association of analysts and activists in the Caribbean were predicting mass deportations of Caribbean migrants from the US, long before DJT won the US presidential race.  So needless to say, not many wanted to see DJT win the 2024 White House race.

Now that that race has been settled and mass deportations of illegal immigrants have begun in earnest, our loose association of Caribbean analysts and activists are trying to tell us why the US policy is a very bad thing.

We live in a world where people have scant regard for the truth about anything and much less for fundamental principles.  So, somewhere in the voluminous verbiage that is effusing, there are two truths that seem to be escaping our loose association of analysts and activists. These truths need to be espoused so that some correction is brought to the emerging Caribbean narrative.

Irrefutable Truths

The first one is that every country has the right to decide whom it allows into its border and for how long.  That includes the country of those who are making the analysis; or so you would think!

The second truth is that the stated policy of the new administration in the US is about deporting ILLEGAL OR UNDOCUMENTED migrants.  But it seems that the perceptual filters of said analysts, activists – and the plain vanilla liars – have sifted out the words ILLEGAL and UNDOCUMENTED, deceiving simple minded into believing that EVERY Caribbean person living in the USA will be sent back home.

Implications

In building their case against these mass deportations, Caribbean apologists cite the repercussions such a move will have on our societies. These range from loss of foreign remittances to negative impacts on social services to an increase in crime in the Caribbean country.

Apparently, there are no such impacts whatsoever of immigrants, legal or otherwise, coming into the US or for that matter into Italy or Israel or Germany or Barbados.   In the case of the US, that country is seen as a juicy economic nipple upon which all and sundry can suck for time and eternity.

Clearly that is plain stupidity. Every country has finite resources; some, like the USA, may have more than others. But all countries have finite resources.

But there is one implication of US mass deportations that nobody is talking about. It is this:

Heavy dependence of Caribbean societies on remittances from Caribbean nationals living in the US and elsewhere indicates a failure of successive Caribbean governments to meet the economic needs of its nationals.

Here I expect sundry economists and historians to jump in and raise issues about the structural economic issues in Caribbean economies, the vestiges and artefacts of slavery, post-colonialism and the whole gamut of apologia we use to sustain a state of dependence while describing ourselves as independent countries. In some ways, US mass deportations blow that cover.

I get the arguments alluded to above and the justification they provide for the need for Caribbean nationals to emigrate to places that offer better prospects. I also understand the personal / individual issue of a man or woman wanting to “better themselves” or help provide for their families. That motive is well understood.

But such arguments certainly cannot justify any support for illegal immigration because then it puts us in the position of lawbreakers and contemptuous of the sovereignty of another nation, a charge we often level at these same big countries.  Two wrongs do not add up to a right.

The Crime Factor

What our sundry analysts and activists are also circumventing is the fact that illegal immigrants are responsible for much crime in the destination country.  Presumably the US or any other recipient country is supposed to ignore that.

It does not mean that legal documented immigrants may not also be committing crime; it is foolish to imagine such a thing.  But if you are a legal immigrant, then like born citizens of the host country, you face the criminal justice system. The difference is that a country has an additional policy choice when illegal immigrants break the law: send them back home.

It is that simple and one would like to believe that Caribbean countries have such a policy tool at their disposal AND are willing to use it irrespective of the financial gain a lawbreaking immigrant may bring to the country or the Swiss bank accounts to be gained for some of our Caribbean officials.

CARICOM Microcosm

Within the Caribbean community we are having the situation where Barbados is fast becoming the home of migrants from Jamaica and other member states, thanks to the “free movement of peoples” policy of the CSME (CARICOM Single Market and Economy).  That is a festering problem for Barbados for most of the reasons our sundry association of analysts and activists give for resisting the US policy.  Nobody is talking about that; at least not yet.

US Not Alone

Finally, if you are not a broad-minded person, you might be tempted to think that the USA is the only country deporting illegal immigrants.  Nothing could be further from the truth. So, we leave you with this sobering video, listing the 10 top countries deporting illegal immigrants in 2025 and the rationale. It is our toast to lifelong learning!