The US State Department announced on 14 Jan. that immigrant visa processing would be suspended for 75 countries including many in the Caribbean. The suspension will not apply for non-immigrant visas, such as tourist, business or student visas.
With the exception of the Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago, all independent Caribbean island countries were included in the freeze, which will take effect on 21 Jan. The Cayman Islands, like other British Overseas Territories, was not on the list, which was comprised of those nations whose citizens were deemed most likely to require public assistance in the US.
US remittances are key for the region
Approximately 5.7 million Caribbean nationals currently live in the US, with many sending money back home. The freeze won’t stop Caribbean people already working in the US from sending money back home. Yet it will limit the expansion of what had been a fast-growing export revenue earner for the nations on the list.
A recent Inter-American Development Bank paper, ‘Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2025’, shows that remittances to the Caribbean have doubled over the last decade, to reach almost US$21 billion in 2025.
“In 2025, Caribbean countries also recorded significant growth rates in remittances received,” said report author René Maldonado.
Remittances are particularly important for small tourism-dependent economies as they offer a diversified source of income that is especially useful when natural disasters derail tourism operations.
The United States is the main source of remittances, accounting for 50.4% of the money sent back to the Caribbean. The US influence is particularly marked in Jamaica, where it accounts for 61% of the total remittances received.
Human impact
But the impact is more than economic – there is also a strong human impact, said Elaine Harris, Jamaica’s Honorary Vice-Consul in Cayman.
“It will affect Jamaican nationals, as we have Jamaican nationals who are currently in the process of filing for US immigrant visas for their family members,” said Harris.
It’s not clear why Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic were exempt from the freeze. “It could be that citizens of both countries, which happen to have strong vetting and documentation systems, fall outside the Trump administration’s ‘public charge’ provision, whereas the State Department believes they will not require public assistance or become a strain on federal resources after they enter the U.S.,” said John Sitilides, a National Security Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Research Institute in Washington DC.
So far, it is unclear how long the freeze will last or how immigration rules might change once it ends. “The final result is difficult to predict,” said Harris.
The UK and Canada are the other countries with large Jamaican diasporas, notes Harris. Yet while Cayman has a large Jamaican population, Harris doesn’t believe Cayman will see a surge in Jamaican immigrants to the Islands.
“Many Jamaicans are here just to work for a period of time and return to Jamaica. I’m not certain whether one can say that the majority really come to Cayman to seek citizenship,” said Harris.
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Something to be aware of.
Intimidation by Federal Agents at TPA
I am an American (military veteran) with Cayman residency. My wife is a Caymanian by birth, a naturalized US Citizen and Jamaican. She is also a cancer survivor who gets regular treatment at Mayo Clinic.
I travel back and forth regularly through TPA. In September I boarded a flight to Cayman and there were two armed “agents” at the gate in full tactical gear, helmets, vest, guns, etc. questioning people as they were boarding the flight.
The aggressive mannerism of the combat dressed agents and line of questioning was quite uncomfortable. I got the distinct impression that if one did not answer to their satisfaction or got upset by having to answer questions of private nature in a very public forum, they would enjoy the chance to take someone down.
After the flight boarded, the experience with the agents was all that the passengers were talking about. Nobody had ever had an experience like that; it was like something you would get in Russia or China.
As a veteran and somone who values my rights, I was mad at them but I held back my anger because I understand that we basically have no rights at the airport. They do not need probable cause to search you, your phones, computers and detain you. I get that safety is a priority why the combat gear and the attitude?
As far as I can tell, their sole purpose was to intimidate people, To what end, I cannot tell you.
Having to be concerned about my social media comments, photos on my phone and private papers on my laptop is BS. We do not look forward to return flights and really are going to seek to avoid travel to and from the US as much as possible.
You’re a soldier right? I am too. But you seem to have forgotten the lesson taught so long ago:
“Freedom Isn’t Free”
I’m not American but my wife is and while I’m sorry you had an experience you found to be unpleasant, I have no qualms about militarized police like presence at an airport. I am in no way intimidated by that because I’m practical and not a coward.
It’s a BORDER and you are exiting the BORDER. I can tell you Donald Trump and those in his administration are highly competent, intelligent and far sighted people. They had a full political term to sit it out, watch, learn and plan for this 4 year window. They viscerally understand the things going on in our region and in our small community. The values of the current US administration have long rhymed with those we have historically expressed here in Cayman.
Caymanians are special. It is for ‘those’ reasons we are not treated as other nations in our region.. Not American, but-same values. More American than British in some respects.
Rather than focus on the negative, think how lucky you are to wake up each day in a place where common sense and strong moral values (married with all-welcoming acceptance) writ large. To quote the greatest British Citizen of the last 100 years: “The only thing to fear, is fear itself”..
That and a paranoid, cowardly left turn to woeness. Thanks God almighty we all dodged that bullet. I pray for the same for you