Denied!

Jennifer Nunes is at her wits’ end and is ready to take the drastic action of renouncing her Jamaican citizenship.

It’s been more than six years since she has been trying without success to have Jamaican citizenship bestowed on her adopted daughter, Joline Nunes.

But what is even more perplexing for Jennifer Nunes is the reason Joline’s application was turned down, first in 2017 and again in 2020.

Joline was adopted at birth in Grenada 34 years ago and that disqualifies her from obtaining Jamaican citizenship or a passport, Jennifer disclosed during a recent Sunday Gleaner interview, citing official correspondence from state authorities.

“Kindly note that in cases where persons were adopted by a Jamaican and said adoption occurred overseas, then they do not qualify for citizenship on the basis of descent,” said a March 2017 letter dispatched to Joline by the Jamaican Embassy in Washington, DC, where the application was made.

“Please be advised that based on the documents received, a claim to Jamaican citizenship by descent cannot be established,” said the letter signed by Dameon Eunick, first secretary/consul at the embassy at the time.

Jennifer, a former journalist and business executive who was born in Jamaica, was blindsided by the response, especially since she believed that her legally adopted daughter would be eligible for citizenship by descent.

But what’s even more confusing, she said, is the fact that before the refusal, Joline had two Jamaican passports that were issued by the High Commission in Trinidad and Tobago then renewed on October 25, 1990 by the same foreign mission.

“Bearer is a Jamaican citizen by descent,” read a notation made on page five of the renewed travel document.

Jennifer Nunes said despite her queries, no one could explain the perceived conflicting positions.

Joline also legally obtained a taxpayer registration number from Tax Administration Jamaica and attended Immaculate Conception and Priory high schools locally before they both moved to Panama, Jennifer disclosed.

“I am in utter amazement and disgust,” she wrote in a letter to The Sunday Gleaner detailing her plight and indicating that she is already investigating the process necessary to cancel her citizenship.

“At this point, having Jamaican citizenship is kind of irrelevant in the face of what I see as a rejection of my child,” Jennifer Nunes added during a recent interview with the newspaper.

“A place that denies my child’s rights denies me.”

UNDER INVESTIGATION

Andrew Wynter, chief executive officer of the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA), told The Sunday Gleaner that a thorough investigation will be conducted “now that it has been brought to my attention”.

“We are going to thoroughly investigate this matter,” he said in response to questions submitted by this newspaper.

Over 4,000 people are typically granted Jamaican citizenship annually, PICA confirmed.

Immigration experts indicated, too, that it is not uncommon for Jamaicans to renounce their citizenship, particularly those who migrate to countries like Germany that do not allow dual citizenship.

In the six years since Joline’s application was first rejected, Jennifer Nunes said she has sought the intervention of PICA and personal friends in Jamaican diplomatic circles, none of which yielded any positive results.

But she said Carol Saunders Hammond, director of the citizenship unit at PICA, confirmed the response from Eunick, saying there is a rule that bars Joline from obtaining Jamaican citizenship because she was not adopted in Jamaica.

‘LOST ALL HOPE’

And she said a 2020 email she received from Saunders Hammond suggested that her fight could be a lost cause.

“The matter regarding adopted children was submitted for discussion and attention at a higher level in the organisation. However, to date, we have had no conclusions. I hope with new developments, the matter will be discussed further,” read the email dated June 9, 2020.

Jennifer Nunes says she feels like she has “lost all hope” and would not care about critics who express the view that giving up her Jamaican citizenship is too drastic.

“Unless they could point me to someone who can resolve it, I am not interested in spending any more of my energy on this,” she said.

Jennifer Nunes said she and her daughter have already obtained citizenship in the United States, where they now call home.

But she decided to go public in one final push for answers.

“It smells; something’s not right here and I thought that by going public, maybe then there could be some answers as to why this is so,” she reasoned.

“Thereafter, if there are no answers, … then I will proceed to do whatever I need to do to disassociate myself [from Jamaica].”

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com