Edward SeagaJamaicans have a well-established reputation as a migrant people. Starting with migration to Central America to seek work, they left behind the economic distress of the post-emancipation period in search of better opportunities. This they found in plantation agriculture and the construction of the Panama Canal. Later, Cuba was another destination for sugar workers. Although a good many Jamaicans stayed on as residents in these host countries and established a well-recognised Jamaican presence, it was not until the period of Word War II that an organised recruitment of labour occurred to work in factories and fields in the United States of America. This same pattern was repeated in Canada and the United Kingdom.
Building on these, Jamaicans created a strong base in many cities in the U.S.A., Canada and the United Kingdom where they remained as residents.
Although the communities of Jamaicans scattered abroad have established themselves as hard-working and ambitious people, earning real respect, they have among them, as should be expected, those who are engaged in criminal activities. By themselves, these transgressors would not constitute a threat requiring any special action by law enforcement agencies, except that they are part of a wider problem.
growth in violent crime
Over the past 40 years, Jamaicans have experienced an astonishing growth in violent crime. The country now ranks number one in murders in the world. What began almost 50 years ago as political rivalries, heightened after Independence with the advent of a national ideological thrust, initiated politically, which glorified radical behaviour. This escalated into militant conduct. These experiences were not lost on the combatants. After political stability returned, the combatants became demobilised gangs without a purpose. They turned to drug trafficking at home and abroad to maintain their lifestyles. Their availability made them a useful workforce for international traffickers in marijuana and cocaine. The links were established and Jamaica became a prime route for narcotics to enter overseas markets, notably the United States.
As the traffic grew, many gang members secured travel permits to migrate to drug-importing countries. It was at this time that, in maintaining the channels of imports and increasing their territory, their activities reached levels of notoriety which caused the law enforcement agencies of the host countries to crack down on offenders and, indeed, enact new laws with sweeping powers focusing, in particular, on illegal immigrants as the easier route for apprehension.
The crackdown has taken many forms, of which wide-scale deportation of offenders has been, perhaps, the most widely-used method. Acting under the new legislation with wide powers enacted to take strong action, the sweep of the law has caught those who were long-term illegal residents in the U.S.A. not involved in drug trafficking and including those guilty of marginal offences, such as, the over-sighting of immigration requirements and traffic violations. Prime drug traffickers were also caught. All were bundled in the sweep as law breakers subject to deportation. This drastic approach has escalated into an international confrontation diplomatically, as well as a strategic development on the crime front, leaving Jamaica to cope with a deluge of deportees while deepening its own involvement in fighting the trafficking of drugs.
Professor Bernard Headley in a recently published book explores the impact on the society of this ongoing human traffic of deportees forcibly returned to Jamaica. The book, Deported: Entry and Exit Findings of Jamaicans Returned from the U.S. between 1997 and 2003, spells out several aspects of the main issue.
surprising truths
While the findings, for the most part, confirm what is known and provides valuable documentary evidence, the documentation also shatters myths and reveals surprising truths:
It is known that young males are the principal characters among the deportees. Analysis of the data tells us that the principal age group is 16-20 years;
It is known that the concentration of deportees is in the New York area. The book confirms and documents the extent to which New York is the main port of entry and activity;
It is known that the deportees have a record of committing one or more criminal offence. But the book probes further into the criminal background, separating the marginal offenders from the hardened criminals, with surprising results. Roughly, one-half of criminal deportees were sent home after only one conviction. This is where the author finds the deportation process, as practised by the American authorities, lacking in sympathy and discretion to deal with exceptional cases.
This rigidity is the result of a cluster of draconian legislation which is becoming increasingly incorporated in law in recent years, reclassifying even minor offences like shoplifting, drunken driving and unpaid traffic fines, as offences warranting deportation.
The book cites a number of pitiful cases of overextended detentions, lack of prompt hearings, beatings and abuses, all prior to deportation. Some persons are even summarily deported without time to say goodbye; others are denied basic civil courtesies. These are hardly incorrigible practices. Indeed, they plead for more humane treatment and discretion within the law.
no roots in Jamaica
Professor Headley also raises the question of deportees who have no roots in Jamaica, having left as children with their parents. What will be their future? How many are without family or close friends? How many become part of a criminal underworld out of desperation?
This perspective is counterpoised by those who have roots, often wide criminal contacts. Quantity is not the factor here. One deportee with wide connections, or an active record of felonious crimes, particularly, narcotics and homicide, can destabilise a community in Jamaica, as they probably did in cities abroad. This level of notoriety is good grounds for deportation.
But do they continue to operate as criminals once they are back home? This is the deepest fear of most Jamaicans who see deportees as recruits to existing criminal gangs capable of expanding criminal activities. After all, with 12,036 deportees between 1997 and 2002, the numbers are fearful. But the book explores this bit of mythology by analysing the data of 8,228 deportees. This presents a different profile, as set out below:
Some three quarters of the criminal deportees were convicted for sale or distribution of ganja/ cocaine, or both, often small quantities;
Only six per cent were convicted on weapons charges;
Only two per cent had convictions on homicide charges.
The fearful profile of the deportee, therefore, under analysis, holds only for the few, not the many. As a consequence, what we are left with is a sociological problem of largely young men who have been uprooted and are unsettled. Presumably, more work will be done to follow them as they settle into Jamaican life in order to determine whether, in the absence of being involved in criminal conduct, they become sociological liabilities or no real liability at all.
a welcome exodus
But there is a question that begs to be answered: If the deportees are men who to a great extent are not dangerous, why are such draconian measures employed and why uproot them at all? A revealing statistic underpins what, it is contended, is one of the main objectives of the legislation, that is, to reduce the number of persons incarcerated in the United States where it is costing state treasuries as much to maintain a prisoner per annum as to finance a college education at US$25,000-$30,000 annually. This reasoning, however, could be self-serving, considering that thousands of drug peddlers, mostly small time, are being removed from cities by deportation, a welcome exodus for the authorities. Whatever the reason, if the process were done in a humane way with adequate time to effect re-establishment on a proper basis, it would be far more credible and far less fearful than the current exercise. It would also be more credible if maximum use was made of non-custodial sentences, including extensive probation, as American criminologists suggest. This would ease the congestion and costs without using inhumane sanctions.
Professor Headley and his team have exploded myths, soothed fears, aroused indignation and provided sound reasons as answers to many questions. We encourage him and his team to go further in deepening our understanding in volume two. Perhaps, the Jamaican case, on deeper analysis, will be more enlightening at home and, perhaps, equally so to those abroad who are obviously feeling their way in the dark.
Edward is a former prime minister. He is now a Distinguished Fellow at the University of the West Indies. Email: odf@uwimona.edu.jm
