Two Jamaicans Deported To Eswatini Say They Do Not Wish To Return Home, Ministry Says 

News Americas, KINGSTON, Jamaica, Thurs. July 16, 2026: Two of three Jamaican nationals reported to be in the Kingdom of Eswatini have told Jamaica’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade that they do not wish to return home at this time, the ministry said.

Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, Jamaica’s foreign affairs minister, said the ministry learned of the men’s situation through Jamaica’s Consulate General in Miamiafter one of the men initiated a phone call. He was joined on the call by his attorney, and a second Jamaican national joined the conversation shortly after.

During that call, the ministry said the men were told what consular assistance is available to them and that the Jamaican government stood ready to help facilitate their return. They were also told Jamaica could not determine their immigration status in the United States or secure their return there. Both men maintained they did not wish to return to Jamaica, according to the ministry.

Jamaica’s High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa, which is also accredited to Eswatini, is continuing efforts to make direct contact with a third Jamaican national believed to be in the country, the ministry said.

The ministry said its outreach followed earlier contact by Jamaica’s Embassy in Washington with U.S. authorities, seeking information on the circumstances of the men’s removal to Eswatini, as well as formal representations by the Pretoria High Commission to the Eswatini government.

The ministry did not name the man but reports say one is Junior Alves, a 64-year-old Jamaican pastor. He was among a group deported to Eswatini in July 2026 and remains in detention facing uncertainty over his legal status. Alves, who has lived in the US for 44 years, was among 11 people flown to the southern African state on Wednesday under Washington’s third-country nationals (TCN) program.  He is a father of eight and grandfather of 11, all born on American soil. He and his wife run a transport business and were preparing to open a new office when ICE swooped him up in Florida.

The case adds to a string of removals of Jamaican nationals to Eswatini under the Trump administration’s third-country deportation program, under which migrants – including some whose home countries are willing to accept them – have been sent to African nations rather than repatriated directly. Eswatini has received at least 19 deportees under the program since July 2025, according to Jamaica Observer reporting, with 17 held in a maximum-security prison as of earlier this month.

A Jamaican man, Orville Etoria, was among the first group of five men sent to Eswatini in July 2025. He was held in a maximum-security prison for more than seven weeks without charge before being voluntarily repatriated to Jamaica in September, with assistance from the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration. His lawyers said at the time that Jamaica had been willing to accept his return, disputing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s characterization that the men sent to Eswatini came from countries that had refused to take them back.

DHS described that first group of deportees as convicted criminals whose home countries would not accept them. Johnson Smith’s ministry has previously said Jamaica has not refused the return of any of its citizens.

The ministry said its consular support “remains available in this matter and more broadly, to Jamaican nationals overseas whose circumstances may require its intervention,” and pledged to continue handling the matter “with care, discretion and respect for the rights and decisions of the individuals concerned.”

Jamaican nationals overseas who are in distress or need consular assistance are asked to contact the nearest Jamaican Embassy, High Commission or Consulate, or email the ministry at [email protected].

NewsAmericasNow will continue following developments in this case, including efforts to reach the third Jamaican national believed to be held in Eswatini.