'More to come' on TCN deal, says PNP senator as he defends media reports

Opposition Senator Cleveland Tomlinson says the People's National Party (PNP) is not finished scrutinising the Government's controversial third country national (TCN) deportee arrangement with the United States, warning that "there is more to come" as he defended media reports on the matter.

The agreement has sparked political controversy following reports that Jamaica has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States to facilitate the transfer of third-country nationals to the island.

Full details are yet to be shared by the Government, which stated those matters are still being worked out.

Cabinet Minister Audrey Marks has denied that she proposed the controversial deal under which Jamaica would receive up to 10,000 (TCNs) from the United States.

Marks said media reports have conflated the TCN Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a separate proposal she developed in March last year as Jamaica's ambassador to Washington to recruit skilled foreign workers.

A diplomatic note from the United States (US) Embassy in Kingston, shared with The Gleaner in June, stated that Marks, former ambassador to the US and Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Efficiency, Innovation and Digital Transformation, made the proposal “for a Third-Country National arrangement that would have Jamaica receive up to 10,000 third-country nationals from the United States”.

The note said she made the proposal to a US official attached to the US Department of Homeland Security during the Americas Counter Cartel Conference at the US Southern Command in Miami, Florida, on March 5, 2026.

However, Marks, speaking last week, said it is being conflated with a proposal she made to recruit skilled workers to Jamaica while serving as Jamaica's ambassador to the United States in March 2025.

Speaking at the PNP's Admiral Town Divisional Conference on Sunday, Tomlinson accused the Andrew Holness administration of trying to divert public attention from the issue.

"What they have been doing is to use the distractions in Parliament to distract the people from the deportee deal, and we have said we are not done with the deportee deal as yet. There is more to come, and the Andrew Holness-led Government must come before the people of Jamaica and be honest with us about what they have signed to and agreed on with the United States Government," he charged.

Tomlinson also pushed back against comments by Minister Audrey Marks, who has argued that the media conflated the reported deportee arrangement with a separate programme to attract skilled workers.

"This situation about the deportee deal was not made up by the media. The Gleaner received a diplomatic note from the US Embassy. If she feels somebody is telling a lie to her, she shouldn't be talking to The Gleaner; she should be talking to the US Embassy," he charged.

The opposition senator also accused the Government of attempting to weaken institutions established to uphold accountability and good governance.

"There are some attempts on the part of the Andrew Holness-led administration to destroy the institutions which, as a people, have carried us through this time," he said.

"They want to vilify those organisations that they helped to establish to maintain accountability and integrity in government," he added, citing the Integrity Commission.

Tomlinson insisted the Opposition would resist any effort to undermine those bodies.

- Corey Robinson

Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.