What It Means to Be a Member of the Jamaican-American Diaspora

In December 1987, I set foot on American soil for the first time. I landed at John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport in New York City on a cold winter night, handed my sealed envelope to the immigration officer, and was fingerprinted for permanent residency. Like so many before and after me, I was filled with hope, dreams, determination, and the ambitions of a proud Jamaican

Historical Context

Following independence in 1962, Jamaica’s first post-independence Five-Year Plan (1963–1968) prioritized economic development and targeted a 5.6 percent annual GDP growth rate. It included significant public investment in agriculture, expansion of educational and social services, export growth, and an industrial development policy. The plan achieved approximately 5.2 percent economic growth, which funded increased spending on healthcare, housing, and education, and boosted primary school enrollment.

Despite this progress, job creation could not keep pace with the expanding workforce, leading to high unemployment. Emigration in the mid-to-late 1960s, to the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, helped ease this pressure while providing crucial remittances to the Jamaican economy.[1]

Emigration to the United States grew steadily, facilitated by the 1965 U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, which eased immigration restrictions. Upon arrival, Jamaicans found varied employment and living conditions, often in cities like New York and Miami, but also faced discrimination and socioeconomic disparities.[2]

In the United States, landmark legislative victories such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 offered hope of a more inclusive nation. Yet, the country was simultaneously grappling with economic challenges from the Vietnam War, persistent inequality, and de facto segregation in the North—conditions that fueled the rise of the Black Power movement.

The summer of 1967, often referred to as the “long, hot summer,” witnessed over 150 race riots and urban uprisings across the country. These events underscored the deep frustration and anger within Black communities over poverty, police brutality, and systemic discrimination. Yet, despite these challenges, many Jamaicans, lacking generational wealth and eager to improve their lives, viewed the United States as their beacon of hope—a land offering economic and educational opportunities beyond what was possible at home. This allure continued unabated for the decades that followed.[3]

Two decades after the 1965 Act that first eased immigration restrictions, President Ronald Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) on November 6, 1986. This law granted legal status to many undocumented Jamaican pioneers who had arrived years earlier. Once legalized, they could petition for immediate relatives, further accelerating the wave of Jamaican emigration to the United States.[4]

The Jamaican Immigrants’ Influence and Impact

As the Jamaican immigrant population grew, we earned a stellar reputation as hardworking—a cultural hallmark so strong that it was often parodied by comedians. This was most famously captured in the early 1990s TV sketch comedy show In Living Color, where the recurring “Hey Mon” sketches featured a Jamaican family named Hedley. The patriarch often proudly listed his dozen-plus jobs and mocked anyone with “only one job” as lazy.

Jamaican immigrants have consistently recorded labor-force participation rates that often surpassed those of the native-born population. We have worked across a wide range of sectors—service industries, transportation, construction, and manufacturing—while a significant portion hold professional and technical roles, largely in healthcare, education, management, and business. These achievements reflect both the education and skills many brought from Jamaica and their steady career advancement over time. Through higher productivity, consumer spending, tax revenue, and filling critical labor shortages, we have undeniably strengthened the U.S. economy.[5]

Jamaican immigrants and their offspring have also made major contributions in the U.S. military and politics. Most notably, in 1989, Colin Powell—the son of Jamaican immigrants—was appointed the twelfth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first African American to hold the position. He later served as the U.S. Secretary of State, the first African-American in that role. On January 20, 2021, Kamala Harris—daughter of a Jamaican immigrant father—became the first woman and first African American vice president of the United States. Two years later, on January 18, 2023, Wes Moore, the son of Jamaican immigrants, was sworn in as the first Black governor of Maryland—the third Black person ever elected governor in U.S. history.

In the height of the COVID-19 global pandemic, on December 14, 2020, I beamed with pride when I heard that the volunteer recipient of the first vaccine administered in the United States was Sandra Lindsay, a Jamaican-born critical care nurse at a hospital in Queens, New York. This televised event, broadcast nationwide, marked the beginning of the largest vaccination campaign in U.S. history. Here was a fellow Jamaican immigrant stepping forward and leading by example—even amid rampant conspiracy theories about the vaccine’s potential harmful effects.[6]

More recently, on January 30, 2026, another Jamaican from the diaspora ascended the ladder of American leadership. Lorna M. Mahlock—born in Kingston, Jamaica—made history as the first Black woman promoted to lieutenant general (a three-star rank) in the United States Marine Corps. This promotion capped a remarkable career that began when she enlisted at age seventeen, shortly after immigrating to Brooklyn, New York.[7]

These celebrated luminaries, including the many uncelebrated achievers of the Jamaican diaspora, stand as powerful testaments to the Jamaican belief that we can achieve anything to which we dedicate ourselves.

Never Forgetting Our Beloved Jamaica

When Jamaicans arrive in the United States, we come seeking greater educational and economic opportunities—a brighter future for ourselves and our families. We envision a successful career, financial security, and a higher standard of living. Driven by optimism, resilience, and a strong work ethic, we remain resolute in the pursuit of our vision of the American dream.

I believe this truth holds for most Jamaican immigrants in the diaspora: we did not leave Jamaica out of a lack of patriotism. On the contrary, we were driven by economic, educational, and other ambitions, and in doing so became flagbearers for the island we all love. The Jamaican conviction that anything is possible still flows through our veins, reminding others that “wi likkle but wi tallawah.”

While pursuing the American dream, the Jamaican diaspora remains a significant source of both tangible and intangible wealth for Jamaica. We can be relied upon to provide support during periods of adversity—such as hurricane damage—and to serve as ardent and vociferous cheerleaders when Jamaica triumphs.

A vivid example of the economic impact is the scale of cash remittances. Jamaica consistently ranks among the top remittance-receiving countries in the world, with these funds accounting for 16 to 22 percent of the country’s GDP in recent years. These inflows play a critical role in supporting families, stimulating local businesses, and strengthening national resilience.[8]

As a member of this Jamaican immigrant group, I reflect today on my own American journey with deep gratitude. The opportunities I envisioned and the goals for which I aspired and worked hard have largely been realized. Despite its sociopolitical challenges, the United States provided me with the means to accomplish what may have eluded me elsewhere. In return, I invested my labor and leadership, and I believe these contributions—like those of so many others—have been significant and meaningful to the U.S. economy and society.

Currently, pathways to legal immigration appear more restricted, and I fear the opportunities I was afforded could be denied to fellow Jamaicans and other immigrants. Yet I remain convinced that America’s greatness was built on the ambitions and hard work of immigrants, and I hold hope that the doors—though narrowed—will never be fully closed. Shutting them would be a loss to both nations.

I was overwhelmed with pride when I read in the 2025 Global Gender Gap Report that Jamaica ranked first in the world in educational attainment—achieving near-perfect parity between the sexes across primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. This remarkable achievement reflects Jamaica’s long-standing commitment to equitable access to learning, especially for girls. This is only one of many examples showing that, despite vast disparities in economic prosperity, both Jamaica and the United States have much to offer each other through mutual exchange and learning.[9]

The notable landmark accomplishments of Jamaican immigrants—along with countless other unsung achievements—stand as enduring testaments to our ongoing contributions, commitment, and positive influence on U.S. political life, national security, military leadership, and society at large. Yet, never forgetting and always contributing to the betterment of our beloved Jamrock.

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Endnotes:

[1] Encyclopædia Britannica, s.v. “Jamaica: Self-government,” https://www.britannica.com/place/Jamaica/Self-government; World Bank, Current Economic Position and Prospects of Jamaica (Washington, DC: World Bank, December 17, 1968), https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/465181468284365764/pdf/multi0page.pdf; Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza, “Jamaica: From Diverse Beginning to Diaspora in the Developed World,” Migration Policy Institute, June 16, 2010, https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/jamaica-diverse-beginning-diaspora-developed-world. All sources accessed February 26, 2026. Details and outcomes of Jamaica’s First Five-Year Plan, and its achievement, and emigration during this era.

[2] Council of Economic Advisers, Economic Report of the President 1968 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1968), esp. 3–15, 25–40; Muzaffar Chishti and Faye Hipsman, “Fifty Years On, the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act Continues to Reshape the United States,” Migration Policy Institute, October 15, 2015, https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/fifty-years-1965-immigration-and-nationality-act-continues-reshape-united-states. The impact on the U.S. economy caused by Vietnam War spending, and the effect of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.

[3] United States, National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1968), esp. chaps. 1–2, 4–5, 11–12. The escalation of the Vietnam War and its impact on the U.S. economy, the shift of the Civil Rights movement toward economic inequality and Black Power, and the severity of the “long hot summer” urban uprisings in 1967 (which included over 150 riots).

[4] “S.1200 - Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986,” Congress.gov, https://www.congress.gov/bill/99th-congress/senate-bill/1200. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), signed into law on November 6, 1986, granted amnesty to millions of undocumented immigrants who met certain criteria, allowing them to legalize their status and eventually petition for family members.

[5] New York City Department of City Planning, The Newest New Yorkers: Characteristics of the City’s Foreign-Born Population, 2013 ed. (New York: NYC Department of City Planning, 2013), 30, 143, https://www.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/data-maps/nyc-population/nny2013/nny_2013.pdf; “New York City Immigrants: The 1990s Wave,” Current Issues in Economics and Finance 11, no. 6 (June 2005), Federal Reserve Bank of New York, https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/current_issues/ci11-6.pdf. “Hey Mon,” In Living Color, season 1, episode 7 (Fox, May 27, 1990), on YouTube. The 1990 estimate of the Jamaican immigrant population in New York City and the surrounding region (335,716), the high labor-force participation, and the recurring sketch featuring the Hedley family.

[6] “‘I Trust Science,’ Says Nurse Who Is First to Get Vaccine in U.S.,” The New York Times, December 14, 2020 (updated December 17, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/14/nyregion/us-covid-vaccine-first-sandra-lindsay.html. The first COVID-19 vaccine dose in the United States was administered on December 14, 2020, to Sandra Lindsay, following FDA emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on December 11, 2020, and initiated the national rollout, prioritizing healthcare workers and long-term care residents.

[7] “Lorna M. Mahlock Promoted to Lieutenant General,” U.S. Marine Corps Press Release, January 30, 2026.

[8] World Bank, “Personal remittances, received (percent of GDP) – Jamaica,” accessed March 2026, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS?locations=JM. Jamaica’s remittances as a percentage of GDP and high global ranking reflect its diaspora’s substantial economic contribution.

[9] World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report 2025 (Geneva: World Economic Forum, 2025), 15–18, 45–47, https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2025.pdf. Jamaica’s ranking in the 2025 Global Gender Gap Report.