Major and Classification
Anthropology
Faculty Mentor
Amon Emeka, Ph.D.
Department
Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
McNair Project
“Removable Alien: Jamaican Immigrants and U.S. Deportation Policy under the Obama Administration”
Project Abstract
During the first three years of President Barack Obama’s term, deportations totaled a record-breaking 1.1 million immigrants, more than any other president since the 1950s. However despite recent increases in removal rates, Department of Homeland Security statistics reveal deportations of Caribbean immigrants began to decline since 2006. Whereas, 1996 immigration reform under the Clinton administration adversely affected Caribbean immigrants, the adoption of a new immigration enforcement policy by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the Obama administration appears to have the opposite effect of previous legislation. Officials remain uncertain as to the complete ramifications of recent deportation policy for non-Latino immigrants due to an existing gap within forced removal literature. Of the Commonwealth Caribbean nations, Jamaica continues to remain among the top 25 nations with the highest deportations. This study explores how current decreases in the removal of Jamaican immigrants under the Obama administration may indicate a reversal of 1996 immigration reform.