Jamaicans with green cards think twice about travel | Lead Stories

As the immigration policies being implemented by the Donald Trump Administration take hold, travel anxiety has developed among Jamaican green card holders in the United States (US). As a result, the island’s tourism industry is bracing for a possible downturn in arrivals from the north.

Reports reaching The Sunday Gleaner are that several green card holders who would normally travel to Jamaica, especially over the summer, are having second thoughts about taking the trip.

The Sunday Gleaner reached out to some of these green card holders to gauge their travel plans.

One green card holder, who asked only to be identified as Richard, said he was still deciding whether to travel to Jamaica later this year as he has done in the past.

“I am half and half. I am concerned with all the new policies that keep changing day to day and I am not sure that I want to take the chance of going to Jamaica and not being able to rejoin my family in the US,” he said.

Richard, who moved to the US in 2016 and got his green card in 2018, told The Sunday Gleaner that his wife and children are US citizens and he would be concerned about not being able to reunite with his family.

“If I was alone it would not matter as I have a business in Jamaica and can live comfortably in Jamaica but, being separated from my family is my major concern,” he said.

Richard, who was born in Westmoreland and worked for Air Jamaica before moving to the US, told The Sunday Gleaner that he was not interested in becoming a citizen of the US but has now applied as his wife is scared for him.

According to Richard, who lives in California, he has no issues with the law, not even a speeding ticket, but he is still concerned about travelling because of the uncertainty created by the changing US immigration policies.

10-year green

card holder

Gary, the holder of a 10-year green card who also did not want his full name used, told The Sunday Gleaner that he too was having second thoughts about travelling to Jamaica later this year.

A resident of Atlanta, Georgia, Gary said he has small children in Jamaica and wants to visit with them but is having doubts about travelling because of the immigration policies.

Born in St Thomas, he has lived in the US for the past five years, got his green card in 2023 and says he has never been in trouble with the law.

“My doubts come from the fact that every day is something new and I feel that I may have problems re-entering the United States,” he said.

Gary noted that he felt more comfortable and travelled to Jamaica last year under the Joe Biden Administration.

Edmund Bartlett, minister of tourism, speaking with The Sunday Gleaner, acknowledged that the tourism sector was bracing for the possibility that the US immigration policies could affect arrivals.

“The information that we are getting is that green card holders are feeling intimidated about travelling and this could impact us,” Bartlett said.

Bartlett said the US remains Jamaica’s major tourist market and that his ministry was monitoring how the immigration policies would affect US outbound airline traffic.

He said the Jamaican tourist industry still has the possibility of tapping into the European, African American and Asian communities in the US.

Bartlett noted that flights to Jamaica are still down but his ministry would be aggressively partnering with airlines and engaging them. He said the airlift supply chain is still being impacted by airlines being unable to get new planes to increase seat capacity.

Lorraine Smith, a Jamaican flight stewardess with Spirit Airlines, said she has seen an impact on airline loads.

Planes are not as full

“The planes are not as full as they usually are,” Smith, who flies into both Kingston and Montego Bay, told The Sunday Gleaner.

Smith said there are lots of seats on the Spirit Airlines flights from Ft Lauderdale to Kingston and Montego Bay as people seem not to be travelling because of uncertainty around the immigration policies.

Audley Deidrick, president and CEO of the Airports Authority of Jamaica, told The Sunday Gleaner that airline loads into Jamaica were down in February this year.

He said while he believes the Trump immigration policies are affecting travel somewhat he could not attribute the fall-off in numbers solely to those policies.

“There is definitely some concern about travel in light of the new immigration policies but there are people who are citizens of the United States who are also not travelling,” he told The Sunday Gleaner.

Deidrick said that, with numbers down on aviation traffic, there was bound to be some impact on Jamaica’s tourism industry.

Figures from MBJ, which operates Sangster International Airport, show that, in January this year, there were 459,679 passengers who arrived in the island through its gates. This was 5.8 per cent less than the budgeted 488,348 and 7.5 per cent fewer than the 496,689 recorded in January 2024. In February, the number of passengers fell to 403,146, which was also 7.7 per cent less than the budgeted 436,930. It was also down 9.9 per cent from 447,488 passengers who arrived during the same period in 2024.

Deidrick, who was speaking with The Sunday Gleaner before Friday night’s fire at Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA), pointed out that airline traffic into NMIA has been less negatively impacted when compared to SIA.

Meanwhile, Irwine Clare, head of the Caribbean Immigration Service, told The Sunday Gleaner that Jamaican green card holders who have had no legal issues in the past should not be afraid to travel.

He, however, warned people who are uncertain to consult an attorney before travelling.

“I would advise people who have had legal issues in the past to stay at home or seek the advice of an attorney before travelling,” he said.

Clare also urged Jamaican green card holders who are eligible to apply for the US citizenship, noting that there are no good reasons why someone who can apply for citizenship has not taken such steps.

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