The Editor, Sir:

The prospect of Jamaica having to acccommodate Jamaican prisoners deported from the United Kingdom to complete their sentences in local prisons would pose a serious challenge to our facilities.

The condition of overcrowding in our prisons is well known.

If the deportees did not commit an offence or violate any Jamaican laws, they should not be held captive in Jamaican prisons. Every country has the right to expel or remove any non-citizens who are classified as undesirables, and a receiving country has the burden to deal with its own.

As a result of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 which was passed by Congress; and tougher immigration laws in U.K. and Canada, Jamaica has seen a high influx of deportees.

The Government of Jamaica lacks the resources to properly identify, monitor, or even assist deported individuals. As a result, deportation has become a national concern and the deporting countries can do more to assist the Government of Jamaica.

For example, on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 a 'deportee', Linden Graham, was released from the Central lock-up after spending a year or more since he was deported from the U.S. He has alleged that he is from St. Thomas, Virgin Islands which is an overseas territory of

the United States. If this holds true, what is he doing, and why was he removed from the U.S. and released in Jamaica? How did he receive a Jamaican travel document?

I am, etc.,

CHARLES BROWN

charliebrown1004@hotmail.com

Morant Bay, St. Thomas.