Jamaicans have been seeking asylum in the US for several reasons. Some leave because of crime while others are merely seeking a better life. It is n extremely expensive venture for some but they are willing to make the sacrifice, paying up to US$3,000.

Asylum seekers making false claims to enter US

Jamaican woman and family 10 years on the run after handing over illegal gun desperate to find refuge in America

2 Apr 2023/Andre Williams Staff Reporter andre.williams@gleanerjm.com

• Jamaicans reportedly secure passage into the US through Mexico for as much as US$3,000 (approximately J$465,000).

• In 2020, 4,467 Jamaicans were legally admitted into Mexico. A year later, arrivals surged by 68 per cent to 7,509.

• In 2022, a total of 16,186 Jamaican nationals travelled to the country by air transportation.

FALSE REPORTS of imaginary dangers in Jamaica could potentially ruin genuine claims for asylum in the United States, as would-be immigrants appear at court hearings after crossing t he treacherous US/Mexico border illegally.

False claims of either assault or death threats, documented on police report receipts, are said to be presented in the US as evidence from asylum seekers claiming that they are running from their country because they no longer feel safe there, some local law enforcement officers are discovering.

But one Kingston family led by their 76-year-old matriarch is anticipating that these fake cases do not jeopardise their chance for safe and legal acceptance into the US. They are clinging to hope that their genuine case of clear and present danger, dogging them for more than a decade, will meet the threshold for being granted asylum.

The family’s nightmare began in 2012, when Ingrid Wallace* handed over an illegal .357 firearm to the police. The gun belonged to a gang in her gritty Kingston 13 community that a relative had stashed in her house.

The firearm was retrieved by someone she trusted, a now retired detective sergeant formerly of the Flying Squad arm of the Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigations Branch (CTOC).

Since then the family has been living in danger. Some have been killed, believed to be because of her action; while others have been displaced across the island. Gripped with increasing fear, last year Wallace and five close relatives fled Jamaica, crossing the US/Mexico border illegally.

It was the first time they were travelling by air but according to the elderly woman, she did not secondguess the transnational trek going through Panama to Mexico.

She had no incident report to prove the threat level against her life, claiming she did not trust people, and kept running until she was able to accumulate funds to make the trip to the US border.

“Believe you me, is when me reach over on US soil and safe me know say that the wall was 30 feet that me climb over. Sometime me sit down and think about it and me laugh. Mi say, jah know it must be for a reason. At age 75 and me go over it; people younger than me can barely walk,” Wallace shared with The Sunday Gleaner over the phone of the desperate move.

She and her family are now housed i n an asylum centre, awaiting the hearing of their case later this year. The elderly woman has heard about people taking false receipts and other documents to bolster their asylum claim in court, which she hopes will not put her genuine cause at risk.

“Me never do none of those (receipts). In my case, mi never trust the police dem but because I was use to this individual (sergeant). I just call him and tell him to come collect it (gun) because me feel safe with him,” Wallace said.

“After what happen after that mi did afi just tek weh myself and some of the place where me did afi live, me couldn’t even use my legal name.”

Wallace said she wanted the illegal firearm out of her house and repeatedly warned the relative whose care it was in, to get rid of it.

Threat level still active

Her granddaughter, who was 14 at the time of the incident, told The Sunday Gleaner last week that she cannot forget the threats and stigma that the family faced after giving up one of the area gang’s favourite tools.

“Dem say if dem can’t catch quako, dem must catch him shut, which mean say if dem can’t catch grandma, dem a go do one a we something. Dem want revenge or dem want back the money and we poor, we nuh have it,” she said.

“If somebody a threaten fi kill you or every time you walk you feel uncomfortable and a get bad face and things a talk and things happen (family dead), you not going to want stay. You a go fear fi your life,” another grandchild, also seeking asylum, said.

Her two-year-old child, strapped to her, also made the arduous trip into the US.

They now fear for their mother (Wallace’s daughter) who is still in Jamaica.

Wallace said the threat level is still active.

“These things don’t die. Things of that nature may cool for a while but anything can make it come up back,” Wallace said.

As it relates to her impending court hearing, she is not nervous and believes that because of her circumstances, it will result in a positive outcome.

Multiple reports

Senior Superintendent of Police Anthony McLaughlin, in charge of C-TOC, said he was unaware of reports regarding the false claims.

Asked if the US authorities communicate with the Jamaican police to authenticate claims by asylum seekers, he said, “I have never been contacted and am not sure if any other department has been, but C-TOC has not been contacted in relation to persons held.”

But two district constables (DC) from two separate police divisions in Jamaica, speaking to The Sunday Gleaner on condition of anonymity, shared that they were aware of these fake claims.

One DC said he learnt that a woman came to the police station on more than one occasion and made fake reports to collect receipts to use as proof.

“The young lady came to us and said that an ex-boyfriend threatened to kill her. When checks were made in the community, nobody could verify her claims. We were then made aware that she crossed the border,” the 25-year veteran said.

Another DC based in the Corporate Area shared that a man made a similar claim of assault at two police stations and obtained two report receipts.

“What he did was to go to his area station, got one receipt and then he went to the HQ station and made another report and got a receipt. When the police did their checks, he was gone. Somebody informed the police that he sold all belongings and left for the border,” the policeman, donning a smile, said.

Want to ‘escape’ reality of life in Jamaica

Dr Henley Morgan told The Sunday Gleaner that asylumseeking immigrants lie because they want to “escape” the reality of their life in Jamaica.

According to Dr Morgan, surveys have shown that up to 70 per cent of Jamaicans have said if they could migrate to a country like America they would.

“So there is a strong pull factor. Whether you fly the gate using the real key, which is going through the legal system, or by a lie or by corrupting the officialdom or whatever else, even taking on a fake identity or creating a scenario in your community, they will do whatever it takes,” Morgan, a management consultant and founder and chairman of the Agency for Innercity Renewal (AIR), said.

He also pointed to the economic realities, noting that the 2023/2024 Budget speaks to GDP and balancing budget but not balancing people’s lives.

Record number of deaths

American journalist Adam Klepp has been covering border crossing for several years and said migrants have all manner of stories of why they are seeking asylum.

He told The Sunday Gleaner that he has seen Jamaicans crossing the Yuma sector where he is based, some often leaving behind the Jamaican currency at the border.

“It was very sad to cover the death of the five-year-old Jamaican girl who drowned in the Colorado River near here. That story got a lot of reaction from the community and the State. Even the Governor of Arizona shared the story. There were a record number of deaths in Yuma’s border sector this year,” Klepp said.

Help of coyotes

The Sunday Gleaner reached out to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) requesting data on Jamaicans seeking asylum. However, up to press time there was no response to the email queries.

Information obtained from the CBP website revealed that over the past four years, millions of immigrants surrendered to Border Patrol for a chance to gain asylum in the United States.

Jamaicans, like other nations, solicit the help of coyotes in Mexico to help them cross the southern border.

A coyote is a person who smuggles people from Latin America across the US border, typically for exorbitant fees.

Jamaicans reportedly secure passage into the US through Mexico for as much as US$3,000 (approximately J$465,000).

Data provided by Mexican immigration authorities reveal a significant increase in the number of travellers from Jamaica over the last three years.

In 2020, 4,467 Jamaicans were legally admitted into Mexico. A year later, arrivals surged by 68 per cent to 7,509.

In 2022, a total of 16,186 Jamaican nationals travelled to the country by air transportation.

Stricter measures

Delona Flemming, director of public relations and communications at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, said the ministry is unable to determine the number of Jamaicans who use Mexico to gain entry into the US.

Flemming also told The Sunday Gleaner that a recent clash at the Cancun Airport with Mexican authorities and a Jamaican man, who was later deported, has not damaged the good bilateral relationship between Mexico and Jamaica.

She cited the increase in Jamaicans being admitted, with summer and Christmas being the preferred travel times.

The Biden administration, in February, announced its most restrictive border control measures to date, issuing plans for a temporary rule which would presume asylum ineligibility for those who enter illegally.

The penalty would make it easier for the government to deport bordercrossers who express a fear of harm, potentially reducing the numbers that are allowed into the United States to await a hearing in swamped US immigration courts.

[Name changed to protect identity]

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