PICA defends Jamaica’s immigration and citizenship processes amid deportation of man from US
Published:Monday | March 3, 2025 | 8:00 PM
The Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) says it is committed to upholding the integrity of Jamaica's immigration and citizenship processes and will continue to support individuals seeking to clarify their nationality.
This came against the background of a Sunday Gleaner story of a man, Devon Nicely, who was deported from the United States, and who is insisting that he is not Jamaican but an American.
The man says his name is Trevor Anthony Grant and argues that he was wrongfully deported.
PICA states that there are established protocols between Jamaica and the US that guide the deportation of Jamaicans.
The agency says these protocols include the presentation of documentary evidence by US authorities to Jamaican authorities of the nationality and identity of individuals to be deported.
PICA says it collaborates with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and other key stakeholders to verify the nationality and identity of the individuals.
PICA says in the case of the individual, the US authorities provided the agency with documentary evidence, including biometric information.
PICA says it conducted investigations to verify the authenticity of the Jamaican birth certificate and other information related to Devon Nicely.
This biometric information, including fingerprints, linked the individual who arrived on the flight as Jamaican Devon Nicely, it said.
“On arrival in Jamaica on February 27, 2025, the individual asserted that he was not Devon Nicely. He was invited to visit PICA with supporting documentation to substantiate this assertion.
“On February 28, 2025, he communicated with PICA's Investigation and Surveillance Unit and indicated that he would visit the office on Monday, March 3, 2025, with the necessary documents.”
The Gleaner has not ascertained if the person in question visited PICA.
“I'm a United States citizen born in Camden New Jersey,” Grant told The Sunday Gleaner moments after his release from custody of the local officials last Thursday at the Norman Manley International Airport.
He said he was wrongfully deported here against his objections and alleged that he has no ties to Jamaica.
“On about the second of March 2023, I was leaving a girl's house. It appears that ICE was looking for someone that used to stay at that address. After leaving that house, I went to a gas station, ICE pulled up on me and asked if I know Mr Nicely, in reply I said no,” said Grant.
He told The Sunday Gleaner they got into a verbal dispute and said some euphemism on his part was displayed.
Grant showed our news team documents he had in his makeshift bag.
These include documents labelled and purported to be from the United States Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Criminal Justice Information Services Division, Clarksburg, West Virginia with the agency case number affixed.
It read: “The FBI identified your ten print submission which contained the following descriptions.”
Name: Grant, Trevor Anthony; Sex: Male; Race: Black; Birth Date: 1964/02/07; Birth Place: United States; Citizenship: United States among other discretionary notes.
Grant also showed The Sunday Gleaner biometrics of his fingerprint and that of Mr Devon Nicely who he says the authorities accuse him of being.
It appears the US authorities wanted Nicely for re-entering America after deportation in 1992.
A US Department of Homeland Security Record of Deportable/Inadmissible Alien document perused by The Sunday Gleaner says Devon Nicely, 65, is a citizen of Jamaica and was born 04/27/1959.
- Andre Williams
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