Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States Audrey Marks wants members of the Diaspora to help in providing opportunities for Jamaican residents in the USA, so that the high level of deportation to Jamaica is curtailed.

Ambassador Marks, who is also Jamaica’s envoy to the Organization of American States, was addressing the Trailblazer Awards Dinner of the Jamaica Diaspora North East in New York a week ago.

Ambassador Marks, who took up duties as Ambassador to the United States for the second time last September, said that members of the Diaspora can come together to dissuade young men from getting involved in criminal acts.

“Jamaica receives the highest share of individuals deported from the USA on criminal grounds, with those convicted of criminal offences accounting for around 90 per cent of Jamaican deportees. Nearly 90 per cent of Jamaicans returned from all countries (mainly UK and Canada) during this period were deported for reasons unrelated with violent crimes, the most common offences being illegal immigration and drugs related offences,” the senior diplomat said.

“It is now time for us to bring the full force of the talent and resources of our Diaspora to this problem. We must stop the deportation of young members of the Diaspora that have spent most of their lives right here and culturally are just as American, as Jamaican.

“Diaspora organisations here tonight and the collective good in the Diaspora around this great country must unite as mentors and protect marginalised, immigrant Jamaican youth from being recruited into criminal activity,” Ambassador Marks said.

Arguing that the lotto scam was having a negative effect on Jamaica’s global image, she said too, that there was a need for the problem of deportation to be handled differently.

“The lotto scam is now the leading cause of violent crimes at home and growing embarrassment and stereotyping of Jamaicans here in the USA. Again as we know, the problem of deportation not only impacts the crime problem at home, but it presents the problem of lack of effective provisions for receiving and reintegrating deportees into a society that was never really their home in the first place, given how long many have been away from Jamaica.

“There is also the unmeasured stress on families here in the United States, which are broken up by forced deportation.

“Unfortunately, that is the back end of the problem. Deportations from the United States of America increased dramatically after the enactment of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. Over 20,000 Jamaicans were deported in the past 10 years,” Ambassador Marks said.

She told the audience that the newly constituted Diaspora Crime Intervention and Prevention Task Force was now in effect, adding that fact-finding trips to Jamaica were no longer necessary.

If organised as an intervention force in Jamaican communities throughout the USA, she argued, the problem of exporting crime to Jamaica may be reduced.

“We need to firstly ensure that every eligible Jamaican green card holder becomes a citizen. I am seeing too many cases of young men who came here at basic and primary school age and are now being deported back to Jamaica when they are at college age, with no ties or opportunities for a second chance in Jamaica. We need to create a path to college programme and stop the supply of deported criminals to Jamaica, mostly from right here in the USA,” Ambassador Marks stated.

She said that Jamaicans represented what she termed as the “common wealth” of citizens at home and overseas, underlining that one of her main charges was to promote and support the Andrew Holness-led Government’s mission towards growth and prosperity for Jamaicans.

“It is our firm belief that if the majority of Jamaicans do well abroad, it will translate to making a big, positive, wealth- creating impact at home. I am therefore keen to work with you to see how best we can harness your potential in the Diaspora to engender a wealthier community of Jamaicans in the United States that are well positioned to enjoy the benefits of investment opportunities that are available at home,” she told those in attendance.

She stressed the importance of new initiatives being piloted by Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the efforts being spearheaded by businessman Michael Lee-Chin to achieve credible economic growth.

“Some of you would have been at the recent town hall meeting last month with the prime minister and heard him make mention of the Economic Growth Council led by a member of the Canadian Diaspora, Mr Michael Lee-Chin. The council has held over 85 meetings and has set out recommendations as to how our country can achieve sustainable economic growth in the shortest possible time. Hence the goal of ‘five in four’, a strategy for the achievement of five per cent economic growth in four years, is a priority objective of the Government. I encourage you all to read the Call to Action document published by the Council and which is available online at the website

fiveinfour.com.

“The critical importance of the Diaspora has been singled out in the recommendations of the council in a call to “harness the power of the Diaspora.” In fact, through remittances, the Diaspora is already the single-largest source of scarce foreign exchange for the local economy. Remittances also constitute the most important social safety net; without these ongoing transfers from the Diaspora, the incipient economic stability would be impossible and social inequality would be much worse.

“We need to build on this powerful foundation, created largely by lower-income earners, to do even more. Successful Jamaicans can now also claim their piece of ‘The Rock’ and contribute to national development by participating in new Government bond issues that allow you to earn higher returns than US savings account and with full repayment security. This will also create an important impetus to help fill the deficit in the productive infrastructure.

“During my previous stint as Ambassador, I had explored the possibility of a Diaspora bond — a mechanism that especially the Israeli Diaspora community has been able to use effectively for their country’s socio-economic growth and development. We had actually spent over nine months in an engagement with the World Bank conducting the initial feasibility studies. I like this idea because it speaks to enlightened self-interest, a vehicle which allows you to earn consistent, higher-than-market returns while building the infrastructure of Jamaica, land we love.

“Isn’t it time that the two-thirds of the country’s expenditure budget that goes to paying foreign debt be cut in half and the interest payments start being paid into the family of all Jamaicans as part of our ‘common wealth’?

“I am therefore very pleased to share with you that one of the recommendations of the council is to establish a special financing agency to issue Diaspora bonds. Whether we settle on bonds, mutual funds or other types of investment- grade financial instruments, I believe this is a good time to start a conversation of wealth creation for all, while building a united Diaspora for growth and prosperity in Jamaica,” Ambassador Marks said.