According to a UNDP study, over 54% of Jamaicans plan to migrate within the next three years, with over 80% of young people expressing this intention. This migration wave is driven by systemic factors including unlivable wages for unskilled labor, lack of affordable housing, inadequate healthcare, high crime rates, and a dysfunctional education system that reproduces inequality. The historical context of colonialism, which prioritized imperial profit over colony development, created structural underdevelopment that persists today. Migration has become a cultural expectation rather than an emergency decision, creating a 'brain drain' that threatens Jamaica's future development and innovation capacity.
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I recently read an article that said the UN development program did a study and more than half of Jamaicans are planning to migrate in the next three years. And you know, it really made me think that every single social class people have are so hopeless in Jamaica that they feel need to while we have very huge national pride to leave. Because if you really think about it, let's say the working class, the the the poor, the people who are largely unskilled, lowskilled labors are the people who, you know, work the service jobs. They work in the factories, they work in the call centers. A lot of these people have no hope. For a lot of these people, there's no clear pathway to owning a home, owning a vehicle, any clear stability, upgrading their education.
Like there are some people who are in that class that actually do happen to you know beat the odds, make buy the home, own the vehicle, like do do the things like educ upgrade their education.
But for the most part, the only way these people will be able to achieve those things is by leaving the country because Jamaica does not value unskilled labor at all. They don't pay any form of unskilled labor a liveable wage at all.
At all very few exceptions. Then you have the middle class, the people who are the lawyers, the doctors, the the government workers, the people who work in school, school administration, those people, you know, they actually stand to gain the most from migrating because if you are able to etch your way into middle class in Jamaica, you know, probably you might be able to own a home, you might be able to own a a vehicle, you might be able to have uh um a graduate degree, you know, you might achieve a lot of these things. You might be able to go on a vacation once a year or twice a year.
If you go to another country, you quickly realize that you will be so much better off. And for a lot of these people, they don't they realize that there is no serious and I'm going to talk about this also when it comes on to the capital class. You know, the people who own the business in Jamaica, which they're not necessarily the wealthy wealthy people, but they're people who own the businesses. They they do have a lot of money. They have the assets. They own, you know, they control most of the capital in the country for most of them.
And especially their children, they do not want to live in the country. There's no benefit because especially if you're the child of somebody who's in the capital class, you quickly realize that your parents live a very shitty life like a very like living in a third world country especially because most of the times you'll have access to visiting a first world country you will realize that even if you have and also living in a country where everybody has no money and you have the money it's a very hor I know this is like a first world problem but not a first world problem, but this is like a a non-sympathetic problem or empathetic problem that maybe people will look listen to this video and be like, "Oh, that's not really a thing."
But like there's no access to proper healthare. There's not proper systems and it's not that fun having money when nobody else has money. And when you have to constantly worry about your safety, like the business community in Jamaica is constantly having to be vigilant, you really see where at all levels of our society for most people, they can think that leaving Jamaica and going somewhere else might be a better existence. And that's a very sad thing.
>> Welcome to A76, guys. Happy Wednesday morning. How are you doing? So, according to the news, more than half of Jamaicans are planning to migrate in the next 3 years.
More than half of Jamaicans are planning to migrate.
I don't know where, but out there in the next 3 years. Are you one of them?
Are you planning to migrate? Are you tired of living in Jamaica?
And when you think of migration, you have to think about the push factors and the pull factors. So the push factors are things that you can't man you can't live in Jamaica like that anymore and it's pushing you out of the country. And the pull factors are the good things or the benefits of living in another country that you deem important to you and those are the things pulling you from Jamaica to those countries.
I have migrated what twice. I migrated twice and I came back. You know the story. And I I honestly can say there are many push factors in Jamaica that would want you to migrate. One, the cost of living is very expensive to live here based on even your salary. You you you might be you're working every day and still can't afford things. Um, side note, I saw a post last night with Derek. I know Uncle Derek, Uncle Derek is in Panama and persons were saying that I am working 5 days a week in a job. I have a roof over my head and I can't vacation like Derek cuz every minute Derek fly out. And it might sound funny, but it's true. The average person is working, going to work, and they can't go on a vacation.
You know, they can't take that break cuz they can't afford it. So there are many push factors. Cost of living, the affording a home. A lot of Jamaicans can't afford a home. Even with NHD, you really can't afford somewhere to live.
And some that is really, you know, hard to swallow because you're getting older.
You're paid NHD. You're working and you can't find somewhere. You can't afford to find somewhere for yourself within a budget. Um healthc care and the list goes on. you know the crime everything and those are the p the push factors.
Now depending on where you're migrating to there might be pull factors there might be greater there might be more employment better salaries um um cost of living is better the quality of life the education system um so those who have children might want somewhere where their children can grow up you know relatively well um and a lot more things you know um as persons deemed necessary for for them. How about you? What are the push factors you think um would would cause you to leave Jamaica and where would you go and in that place what are the pull factors cuz half of us are leaving half that's that that's a whole lot our show today the migration dilemma why Jamaicans are leaving and what could make them stay. We could even add what could make some of those who have left come back. All right. So that's that's what we have assigned ourself this one hour to do. Now the core theme is based on Don Anderson couple months ago revealed some data where he showed that significant numbers of Jamaica part of their plan is to leave up to 80% in the youngest age category. Huh?
That's disturbing.
The most recent figures that we are seeing averages out that 54% of Jamaicans are projected to desire migration within the next 3 years. So we're dealing with three issues here now. What is pushing them away?
What is pulling them abroad? And what could Jamaica do to make people want to stay or to return? All right. Now, we have plotted this out because you know this is a network.
There are three articles and I suggest that you go to sama mindsp.com and you look up three articles. one, 54% of Jamaicans want out, the psychological crisis behind the migration wave. Then you look at part two, the migration dilemma, and part three.
So all of this information we're summarizing here and utilizing it to bring you this broadcast. All right. Now the UNDP report cited in the my article state that again 54% of Jamaicans intend to migrate within the next 3 years.
Now Jamaica will be suffering one of the highest level of brain drain in Latin America and the Caribbean.
There's only one country that have a higher desirous level of migration and that's he and we understand why.
So, let's roll. Let's make this work now.
Good evening, Jamaica. Hello. Good morning, wherever you are. because oh by the way the mind spar you know we realize that we're now uh talking to 67 different countries a lot in Jamaica and North America but we're even in China South America 67 countries are tapping into the energy coming out of the space >> do not leave Jamaica without a plan social media it can't fool you because some people only post the highlights they don't show you the rent struggles the loneliness, the immigration pressure, the three jobs, the depression, or sleeping on people's couches trying to survive. This world has changed. You cannot just land in another country and expect to live off the system or survive by chance. Those days are done. Plan your future. You see, if you want to leave Jamaica, leave with a purpose. Leave with education in mind. Leave with a skill. Leave with a trade. Leave with a vision. Whether you want to become a musician, a nurse, a doctor, a lawyer, an architect, a chef, an entrepreneur, or an engineer, success belongs to the prepared. A plan turns migration into opportunity. Without a plan, migration can become suffering.
And listen to me carefully. There is no shame in Jamaica. Jamaica is still home.
Do not let frustration make you move blindly. Because many people leave Jamaica thinking life will magically improve overnight only to discover that they were not mentally or financially or emotionally prepared for the reality them face when them leave Jamaica. So think, prepare, educate yourself, build yourself and wherever you go in this world, make sure you carry Jamaica with you.
>> So I'm here doing a little puzzle and I stopped for a second because the numbers from that recent UNDP report just hit me all over again. And honestly know this not puzzle you know enough Jamaicans brain because we live the reality every day we see what go on but when you really sit down and process it over half of Jamaicans say that they want to leave the country and among young people that number is even higher. It's over 80%.
And that is a very serious thing to process because at some point we have to stop and ask ourselves what exactly is happening in Jamaica that so many people especially young people no longer see a future for themselves here and before people start jump up and say oh Jamaicans just love foreign. I think we actually need to have a more honest conversation than that because this is bigger than people just wanting nicer weather or bigger salaries overseas. I think that a lot of people are emotionally disconnecting from Jamaica because they no longer feel confident that the systems in this country are working in their interest. And honestly, how can we completely blame them? Young people are looking around and asking, can I realistically own a home here? Can I feel safe here? Can I afford children here? Will hard work actually pay off here? Will the institutions of this country work for ordinary people? And increasingly when you look around too many people are arriving at the answer no just simply no it can't work. And then you look on situations like the hurricane relief issue and it becomes even harder for people to feel hopeful because we now know that months after hurricane Melissa less than 2% of the relief funds collected had actually been spent while people still suffer. And now there are reports saying that funds from hurricane bur still no spend yet. So we have the hurricane season quickly approaching and what is being done. So now naturally people are asking what proactive measures are being taken now to ensure that the country is in a much better position than last year? Nobody knows right. And we still have schools that are damaged. We still have communities that are in need of rebuilding. We still have families that are displaced in this country. Them live now with them on a roof over them head or partially. Some people are still living in horrible conditions every time rainfall. Now to be fair, the government says bureaucracy and red tape are slowing things down. And yes, bureaucracy in Jamaica is a real issue.
But after several months, people are naturally going to start questioning whether the systems we have are actually functioning with the urgency people need. And then people are going to start thinking twice about some things where I get said and this is where I think the conversation gets deeper because while people are struggling, many Jamaicans feel like development in this country increasingly happens around ordinary people instead of for ordinary people.
And you can't fight that. And then we start hearing arguments for structures like NAR that would centralize significant emergency PS under the government. And people have a right to start ask questions about accountability in this country. Because when you look at it, who protects the citizens raising concerns about the Bengal mining issue and the protection of the Jabra Mountains? Who protects communities and groups fighting for beach access? Who is going to protect the families out at Bob Marley Beach trying to preserve their homes and land? who ensures that ordinary Jamaicans still have mechanisms to challenge the state when they feel unheard. And if we're being honest, people, this frustration goes even deeper than politics. Because we also have to confront the fact that our education system continues to reproduce inequality in this country named Jamaica. Too many children, especially from poorer communities, are being pushed through a system that was never truly redesigned to equally develop the majority of Jamaica's people. And we see the consequences everywhere. We see it in unemployment. We see it in violence, violent crimes, right? We see it in hopelessness. We see it in migration.
And one thing that really stuck with me recently was something Kerry Washington said, right? And she basically says that the governments and systems often bank on people becoming too tired, too defeated, too confused, and too hopeless to believe that we can actually do anything to make a difference. And honestly, I think that is where many Jamaicans are emotionally right now.
That is why voter apathy is so high in this country. That is why so many young people feel disconnected from politics.
And you really can't blame them. That is why only one in five young people voted in the last election in Jamaica.
And when you look at it, that is why so many people want to leave because too many people no longer believe that their participation changes anything at all. But here is the thing, it does matter. We have to educate ourselves beyond headlines. We have to stop blindly accepting political narratives. We have to stop normalizing corruption and dysfunction in this country. Those things aren't normal. And we also have to support the people who are fighting for the right things.
People fighting for environmental protection, for beach access, for transparency, for accountability, for police reform, for justice. But we can't wait till every issue reach at our doorstep before we actually care about it. Right? in democracies all over the world, ordinary people, right? They organize, mobilize, and pressure governments to actually do better. We have to find back that spirit in Jamaica. We have to stand up for something or else we're going to fall for anything. Because if over half the country and over 80% of young people are thinking about leaving, that is not just a migration. You see, you know, that is a warning sign about national confidence and I really and truly believe that it's time we need to start treating it like it is actually one. Why do many Jamaicans migrate?
Many Jamaicans migrate because of they lacked opportunities at home.
They migrate out of sheer survival and for stability, for a stable life.
Now in 1948, the British authorities invited Jamaicans to come to England without proper documentation to rebuild England after World War II. They did this because it was necessary for them to get cheap source of labor to rebuild their country. Remember during colonialism the colonies such as Jamaica was were not developed and that was not coincidental. That was a strategic plan of the British authorities not to develop the colonies because they prioritize profit of the empire over prosperity of the colony.
All right. So the colonies were left underdeveloped in relation to social services, health services and so on. The education system was not up to scratch. There was lack of proper housing, name it. The colonies were underdeveloped and they practice a system of monoculture agriculture, right? meaning one crop at a time.
So, a lot of Jamaicans seize opportunities to go overseas to better their lives and that of their children.
So in 1948, the HMT Empire Wind Rush vessel, which was a German ship that the British authorities took control of and renamed, came to Jamaica in May of 1948 and arrived in England on the 22nd of June, 1948.
The official count was 492 Caribbean nationals, not just from Jamaica, but from Barbados, from Trinidad and other Caribbean islands, right? But there were several storeways on that vessel. Some some accounts have the the vessel as having up to about 800 persons, nearly double the number of official passengers.
Nevertheless, Jamaicans went to England to rebuild England. They went in service industries. They went into the factories. They went into health services and they went into transportation.
And many have remained there and their descendants are still in England.
As a matter of fact, in the year 2010 thereabout, there was a scandal in England where a number of Jamaicans and other Caribbean nationals who went to England under the wind rush there.
They call it the wind rush generation.
They were denied health services. They were denied pensions. Some lost their jobs and some were even deported. As a result, a scandal occurred and ensued and so a compensation fund was set up to compensate these people and an apology was made because they remained in England without proper documentation cuz they were encouraged to do so. It was in the interest of the motherland for them to come and rebuild it. So whatever is in the best interest of the empire that is what was pursued.
All right. And you find the same thing happening in in the United States.
United States allowed a number of Jamaicans to to to to migrate to the United States in the field of agriculture. Many went to Florida to cut sugar cane and to work in their citrus farms.
Some went to New York to domestic work.
You also find the same thing happening in Canada. In the 1960s, there was a domestic work program undertaken by the Canadian government which invited Jamaican nationals to come to Toronto to work in domestic field in Toronto and in Montreal. So Jamaicans leave Jamaica because of the opportunity that existed overseas, not that they were unpatriotic, but out of necessity, out of survival and out of sheer opportunity to make life.
And so they left. And many have remaining diaspora even today.
And so we have that migration of Jamaicans.
As a matter of fact, Jamaicans are one of the um the the largest diaspora um numbers in the world.
The it is said that more Jamaicans live outside of Jamaica than they do in Jamaica. Right? because of opportunities, stability and for survival.
And let me just say this that the the mother country England at the time had no plan to develop the colonies. The colonies existed to enrich the empire and that is what they did. Profit motive was to enrich the empire and to enhance the wealth of their citizens. The wealth and the goodwill of their citizens as a result of the the the work of the the people in the colony the colonized. All right, I invite you to follow me right as we go on this journey cuz I would like to do a series on Jamaicans in the diaspora.
Why do they remain?
What caused them to to to leave in the first place? And why do they remain? and we will ask the questions as we go along.
So until we meet again, God bless.
Most Jamaicans who complain foreign is not a bit of roses because bills are cute and we have work like hog will not go back to live in Jamaica. And here's why. Basic necessities from my granny wear mini. She's been complaining about light and water a go away. As a grown woman, same experience. When is that going to ever stop? We're tired of the corporate dinosaurs fighting us out of positions. We're always on contract.
Can't get no little health benefits. If you're lucky enough for get a job, them pull NHT out of your pay and all no, we can't qualify for your home. The average Jamaican can't even walk out with a trolley full of groceries because while minimum wage is still 8,000, why a loaf of bread reach $500? As an entrepreneur, get ready to be extorted because why customs is still at a minimum of $50?
I don't know if everybody just realize when them see the news that most Jamaicans are planning to leave in the next 3 years. Almost 50% of Jamaica is planning to leave. And I have to say yes to that statement. We can see why everyone is [ __ ] planning to leave because I suspect in a Jamaica. Jamaica is a place where if you have money and your resources and you're famous or a B man but long as you come with money you could have anything that is wrong with the world and society and you come a Jamaica you get the highest respect but majority of Jamaicans are broke when not money so in order to find a better life we have to migrate and left that bumble [ __ ] there because The the level of respect and love me I speed get a bumble Jamaica live there for 30 blood clers and never sit that me never see that Jamaica where me see represented so it's no surprise say 50% of Jamaica plan for left in next three blood clot years with the crime and corruption and high prices and police want blood clot kill you and you can't hardly buy a tasty pica them raise the blood clot price and the long wait time for for go bank the long wait time for just for [ __ ] live or to get a a a bus don't even mention the wait time for the capec ISO speed alone me see get the most enjoyable Jamaica where we can dream of getting because I am nobody I am nobody in the process applying for immigrant pleasers.
>> Yes.
>> Their land now upended.
>> Yes. Yes. When I was growing up, um which is not so long ago. Uh all of my friends wanted to go to United States. They all wanted to migrate and even when I was at university, all of my friends wanted to migrate.
They just could not see a future here in Janu.
I never took back.
I thought I will stay in Jamaica. I work in Jamaica and I will make the best for my people and my country.
It is not that they were unpatriot and and I was somehow superior in my patriotism. No, I I I think there was just a sense of frustration with the nation and I think that sense of frustration would have carried for many decades and many generations and it was in the interest of receiving cultures for many years to use Jamaican labor to use Jamaican talent to bend their gen.
uh when I became prime minister the second time around I visited Cayman and I was in Cayman we were they were having a celebration there and I invited me to be a guest and struck me that uh more than half of the population in Cayman could claim either being Jamaican or having Jamaican heritage uh a developed society um that relies on Jamaican talent. It's not just kid. You can go all around the Caribbean. You can go all around the world and see what Jamaican talent has accomplished when paired with good government and opportunity.
So the problem was never the people. The problem was always what governments do and the opportunity they create.
Somebody has to stay here and fix government and create property because it is not always going to be in the interest of the receiving country to have um immigration because remember they received the immigration on the basis that it was a net benefit to their economy. Now I cannot make any prescription as to how Americans or any other society view immigration now whether or not it's a net benefit to their society whether or not it helps with not just diversity but with innovation uh and the cost of labor and so forth.
So that's a political decision for another sovereign country. My job is to create a good government and opportunity so that people can make their economic decision not just on a moral position of patriotism but on the ability to feed their family.
This does not happen with the snap of a finger or overnight. Okay. So if you were to take some of the pain points that will push people to migrate around the ability to get a job then a good salary infrastructure not just roles but world class infrastructure. You want to be able to go to the cinema, go to good restaurants. You want to be able to have, you know, good landscape and streetscapes to feel like you're enjoying modernity and you don't have to leave here to go somewhere else. Place is clean. It's all about good healthcare, good education, uh, and of course a peaceful society.
Now, let's look at all of those things.
Lowest unemployment rate in Jamaica's history since my administration.
We're practically full employment. All right. So the employment issue is not a problem. Now the problem is we just can't find people to work. Why? Because heavy migration and as you have heard the birth rate um is below replacement.
So these are social issues on the rise and that we have to address. All right.
If our economy is to grow the issue of higher wages, higher wages don't just come because um I I am demanding higher wages. Higher wages are tied to productivity. Productivity is tied to innovation um and the integration of technology and that means better management. That means higher skills. So to get higher wages you have to get higher skills, higher innovation and and better um strategic management of of resources. We're working on that. Then let's look at crime. Clearly that is where we have made the biggest impact. We have reduced uh murders which is the ultimate expression the ultimate form of violence and we're keeping that down and the objective now is to attain peace and peace is not the absence of conflict but peace is the resolution of conflict.
>> Mr. Kin is that your administration has successfully dealed with the push factors that would drive people to look towards the US.
>> Yeah. And as I travel, you know, one of the things I get is that people are see, you know, have been saying, you know, but I'm going to get my Jamaican passport. If you look at the number of applications for Jamaican passport from overseas, it has just increased almost more than that. So people are beginning to look back at Jamaica seriously to to come back. Now for those persons who have, you know, genuinely there's always a certain number of person who genuinely want to migrate. They want access, you know, we don't train nuclear scientists here, for example. they might want to take up a course in nuclear science.
they have to migrate to whatever it is.
So, so those are persons who are going to be affected by this without uh and of course we do have an obligation to pursue the diplomatic channels but we must always bear in mind that's a sovereign decision by a sovereign country uh and you know we we make no pronouncements on it other than we will use our uh diplomatic efforts to restore uh normaly but bear in mind the position We must build our own country and we need to stop this kind of view that you know it's so easy to say you know you know there's a kind of cynicism but this is now reality.
>> Mhm. Other countries may very well follow suit. There is a growing uh public um view in many developed countries. Um if I don't know Jamaicans follow international affairs. Uh but you're seeing a growing trend >> um for countries to want to stem immigration.
Uh so we need to look there's no enthusiasm on your part to really lobby the Trump prime minister.
>> Oh no no no that's not what I've said.
That's not what I've said to Nathan etc. >> No that's not what I've said. I've said we will pursue diplomatic channels. Mhm.
>> Um >> we definitely will do that but we are going to pursue even more >> making our country the place of choice to live, work, do business, raise families and retire in paradise. I think that is a greater object than me person.
>> Good afternoon to the citizens and resident of Jamaica. This is Tic Tac special agent box tic tac immigration custom enforcement eyes. Two days ago, the US embassy in Kingston released a press statement on their Instagram page stating that do not run off.
You will be deported from the United States or you will not return for we done with you. We just done with man this licky lick radio business work with I just say it go the said man we tell to run off him said call overshine him in the state if love run this is not track and field this is not the gib boys and girls champs nor the Olympics love run we're going to make run go back in the country overstaying a visa in the United States mean remaining in the country of authorized period of admission. This can have serious consequences including deportation, loss of immigration benefits, bon re-entry, difficulty applying for future visa, restriction applying for extension of state or change of status. Brother, do not run off. Visit the visit and return back to your yard. It is not a green card. It's a visa to visit visit your family or your loved one and go back at your yard.
We tell them to come leave boy. This is what them call a visa. Travel on it. Go back on your yard. Do not come here come work on it because if you travel to the United States on a traveling visa and work god dog your supper cuz guess what now we will listen we will cancel your visa detain you and deport you back home. This visa is to visit. You want know the country.
You want visit a family member.
Work. Okay. This is what them call a green card. When you're married and come here, I hit you get. Okay. Do not overstay on your traveling visa. The difference between a traveling visa and a green card. The green card stated that you are a resident of the United States.
Okay. The green card stated that you can only visit and return back to your country after time of admission. Okay.
Okay. If you run over here, you go run in your back.
Visit or leave people place me come off site. Okay. Stop. Tell people to run off a foreign when no friends or relatives come a foreign make the people spend them time in peace. If they want to go back home make them go back home.
If they want to stay them stay know that's a very big decision bro know why even get involved in that run off in a foreign country that's a very big decision it's as big as getting married or having a child it's life changing if you write somebody invitation you just write it now if your friend run off and they want assistance then you help if somebody call right now say Malone cut off the farm look right hours a drive but go do it for them bring a bron with me so them can't drive back do it if me can't help you with a whole car me do it if me can't line up a work for you me do it but me not tell you to stay you know why When hardship come now if you know when struggles come we all face it when not if when it come you look for me as a grown man I said to me say yo you did tell me to stay not even know what that mean so when people want go back home leave them alone this supposed to be for them decision no fear on them when cut if cut then they can't help them Thanks for staying with us. Why are Jamaicans choosing to run off? It's a question the Caribbean Immigrant Services wants answered. As despite strong warnings against illegal migration to the United States, many Jamaicans are still opting to take that risk. Ramardo Lions reports.
>> Police.
>> Jamaicans are no exceptions. Those who are illegal in the United States are on thin ice. President Donald Trump's message on immigration has been clear.
On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history.
I inherited a mess and I'm fixing it.
>> In April 2026, an ICE flight monitor tracked 245 removal flights, a monthly record since independent flight tracking began in 2020. May 13, 2026, the official exac account for the US embassy in Jamaica strongly warned Jamaicans, "Do not run off. You will be deported from the United States." In March, it advised, "Do not overstay your visa."
But there are Jamaicans who still take those risks knowingly. Irwin Clear, managing director of the Caribbean Immigrant Services, has questions.
>> What is driving that that that that impetus for people wanting to leave knowing that in the United States, the challenges are even greater if you're not entering in a legitimate format.
According to the UNDP 2026 development and democracy report for Latin America and the Caribbean, more than half of Jamaicans plan to migrate within the next 3 years to work or live. Jamaica is second in the region with 54%. Haiti is at number one with 74%. Now, this does not factor those who have illegal intentions. Mr. Clear says the conditions on the ground in Jamaica must be part of the conversation about why people feel compelled to consider those options.
>> Why would you want to leave? It would mean then that what is it? Are you running from persecution?
Um the economic opportunities there are unstable um which is largely the latter.
>> There have also been arguments that some applicants spent thousands of dollars pursuing visas and still face high denial rates. the a denial of a visa. Um there are those who says that it leads to persons trying other methodologies to enter the United States and what you'll find is that those those end those those avenues are being are are closing down and and it's it's even harder and and yet you still have I've been told persons still trying to to enter the states. It goes back to what's causing people to leave. And I think that's where the reflection on on on home becomes a part of the subject. Why are people intent on leaving in those numbers?
>> But based on reports on the US government's intense clampdown, are people being deterred? It's fair to say that it has been working because the numbers illustrate such and as a matter and as such you see you would have seen more more resources now being spent on the whole internal apparatus of their forces such as the such as ICE you immigration custom enforcement um uh doing a lot more work on the ground um we we' have seen the buildout of of mass uh incarceration sites to hold them as they go through the process of deportation.
>> Illegal immigrants in America have been getting financial incentives to leave and voluntary departure is on the table.
Immigration judges issued more than 80,000 voluntary departure orders from January 2025 through to March of this year alone. a person understanding their immigration challenges decides to leave and the judge grants such we've seen now where those numbers have quadrupled. So again, it's a it's a series of of of of of of targeted practices.
>> Ramardo Lions, TVJ News.
>> Jamaica, this should be very concerning to us and especially to the leadership of our country. A YouTuber came to Jamaica and connected with the youth more in a few hours than the Ministry of Youth has connected with them in years.
>> What's your opinion?
>> And that is not disrespect. That is reality. You see it? Listen, when I show Speed came to Jamaica, the turnout from the youth was massive. The energy was explosive. The young people flooded the streets just to feel seen, involved, entertained, and connected.
And then the minister of youth thanked him but respectfully.
Why are we thanking him for doing the job for doing what the ministry of youth should already be doing?
That reaction should have never looked the way it looked in Jamaica. Never. Not in the land of a Bob Marley and Miss Lu and a vibes cartel and bean and Shan Paul and Shaggy and Shincy and Spicer.
No. Not in the land of dance. Not in the land of creativity. Not in the land of uh not in the country with some of the most talented, energetic, culturally powerful young people on this earth.
But where is the problem?
The problem is in the numbers. And now the numbers are exposing that deeper problem. What the root of it is. And listen to this. Over 71% of Jamaicans between the ages of 18 and 24 want to leave the country in the next 3 years.
Nearly 66% between 25 and 34 are looking for a way out right now. That is not migration anymore. That is a youth disconnect crisis.
So, Minister Graange, with all due respect, Jamaica appreciates your years of service. So, love and respect always.
But maybe the Ministry of Youth now needs leadership that speaks the language of this generation emotionally, digitally, culturally, and psychologically. Or separate the youth affairs completely and allow a younger generation of leadership to take over that responsibility fully.
No wonder only 39% of voters turned out in the last election. Because if one youth YouTube streamer can create more excitement, emotional connection, and national attention from Jamaican youth in one visit than the system designed specifically for youth engagement, then Jamaica does not have a youth problem.
No, Jamaica has a leadership connection problem. And no amount of bill, bill, bill, invest, invest, invest can save a country if the youth no longer feel emotionally connected to the future being built for them. to all people.
When my great friend from Jamaica, Ghana, Trinidad, we know a blood cla over desert have a higher poverty rate than Jamaica.
Jamaica have a less poverty rate. So if left from deso from Jamaica over des if you not America, Canada or England some of the time make sense you waste your money fly out going nowhere. save your money if you went get a chance to fly out America, Canada or England or even Germany or some other first world country because a better you want make for yourself. You understand? Some of people migrate from Jamaica, Ghana, Trinidad come like some people we live in a mansion with them with them parents and true them want abide by them parents rules and laws them feel get big like them parents now them move out and live bord with them you understand so come like them people migrate from Jamaica Ghana Trinidad do that for place so life before help build up in a country build up another country. Go inside, man.
Jamaica is number one. Amen.
Why do Jamaicans move to America? I know this question or this comment was made in a malicious way, but I'm going to break down I'm going to break down everything for you, my friend. Like I said in my previous video, the Jamaican education system is far more advanced than the American education system. And so is the British education system. So is the Canadian education system. So are most African education system.
The only thing that America has is like the technology. Jamaicans or you know other Caribbean countries and other you know countries in Africa don't have the computers etc what that America have but when it comes on to the school curriculum it's far more advanced however due to the fact that a lot of US corporations kind of hijack the resources in the Caribbean and in Africa. When I say US, I be forgetting to include England and Canada, too. A lot of predominantly white tea countries hijack the resources of brown and black countries. So, the people who live there and the natives, they don't get to, you know, enjoy or benefit from the resources in their own country. So, if they're educated enough and they're accepted into the foreign countries, the white tea countries, they usually take the opportunity. And here's another thing. A lot of Caribbeans and Africans think that they're more educated than people in America, which is true in a sense, but if you think about because of how our school curriculum is, yes, but also because England, Canada, and America usually take the most educated people out of our countries and allow them to come to America. And when those people have children, of course, these children are going to be smarter than the the other children around them because they have smart parents. But that's a whole another conversation for another time.
Now, the reason why Jamaicans don't go back home, Jamaicans, like the older Jamaicans, some of them move back when they retire. And you know, there is like a particular set of Jamaicans who see living in America as an achievement. So, they are not going to want to move back to Jamaica even if even if it's in their best interest because they see that as an achievement. You get what I'm saying?
They will they feel like they're giving up something. And a lot of people, one thing that a lot of people don't don't understand, you see, your first two years in America, it's nothing but tears and crying because now you have to get adjusted to like a new life.
Um, your immune system is still getting used to America, so you're always sick. You're used to being around friends and family all the time, but America is very individualistic. And that's why I always advocate for people to live in a third world country for like a year or two because your mind will be at such peace, bro. the peace. Like I always say, I always say this. I always say this.
People who live in first world countries are born into depression. Like you're depressed and you have anxiety and you don't know that you're depressed and that you have anxiety because you don't know any. You've never lived your life without being depressed or without being anxious. I always say that like people in America, they're anxious all the time, they're depressed all the time, and sometimes they don't even know. But when you go to when you go to a third world country where like people are more communal, and you're constantly around love, and you're constantly around community, you're constantly around people. You're you you have people to play dominoes with. If you want to play cards, if you're cooking, you have people helping you in your kitchen. And the list goes on. Another thing that the media another thing that a lot of people don't get or don't understand or like a misconception I should say a lot of the media usually makes it seem like Jamaicans or like people overseas are living in these very you know old elapidated houses and the houses like but in reality people in like Nigeria, Jamaica etc. of the houses are made from better materials.
They're stronger. They're bigger, but yet they cost way less.
The the housing cost is way less than the housing cost in America. But the younger people, the younger Jamaicans are doing exactly what I be telling people to do. Get you a remote job and go home. Stack your bread. Stack your paper. And when I say this, I'm not just I really want African-Americans to do something like this where like they live in Jamaica or Africa or live in Trinidad or something or like even South America for like a year or two so that we could get our bread up, bro. Like get your bread up. Get your bread up, bro. Like Yeah.
>> Okay. Bye.
>> My my little sister. Yeah. So, you know, that's basically what I think. I think so. I think you should try living outside of I know it's like a big step and it's scary, but if you do that, bro, I go over to living abroad Tik Tok and you'll see what I'm talking about.
>> Why did you leave Jamaica and go to America? Jamaican struggles run me down breathless when me realize me can't run no more so fast boat me take two leave and book flight and leave when reach America stress and depression take me clothes naked in America look hey kick down poverty poverty blame lonely street I sing money. She want she want B suit big money all by myself and creep up behind her and grab her in her neck. Ch aggressive and start when I'm back on my feet again looks mess grap Egyptian let go moral of the story money and bills a and get money bills take away >> in a real life people. So recent studies show that Jamaicans are still leaving Jamaica or trying to leave Jamaica in large numbers in search of a better life overseas in the US, England, Canada and other places.
Whilst at the same time more and more people from the diaspora are returning to Jamaica, whilst other persons of other nationalities are also settling up and moving to Jamaica in search of a better life that includes Americans, Europeans, and people from a whole host of other nations. So, it's interesting because Jamaicans living in Jamaica want get overseas for a better life and Jamaicans who have lived overseas want forward back and some people who may have never been to the island are thinking about leaving their countries higher cost of living and moving to Germany. Jamaica.
So what would you do?
Are the opportunities better overseas or is there a life to be built here?
And of course there are many factors, work, your wages, um you know your dependence.
But it's interesting some people are go some people are forward.
What is the right move and what would you do in a real life? Come let me tell you a little bit about Montego Bay airport. How it has improved so much.
Not tell when you step in a Montego Bay airport you come like Fort Miami big foreign the ambiance the settings in the layout not like the architectural work in there and the decorating work is awesome. Anyway, I go for board me and I look through the window at Delta. The airport come like New York look through the t out on the tarmac. The place clean and crysy and nice and let me tell you the airport is so big at Montegoia airport. The shops in there are very nice. All them have from the dutyfree perfume, liquor store, every kind of store, gift shop. So many not no one or no two or no three I guess might because it's a tourist area let me tell you they have improved so much on the Montego airport it's and when you look in there all these sweet here you come like you're walking foreign airport but the only thing a local and I think that it is very very nice and it has come a long way especially the liquor standing well if I meet up on the plane dear child look nice girl like to fly up on Southwest. One thing with Southwest, they don't give you seat numbers. So anywhere on the plane, you feel like go dash out with your child for go sit down. You do that southwest. They check you in and you choose your seat. And I like that. You go on early any flight attendant say you seat A or seat D or you just go sit down Southwest and I and I've been using Southwest for a while now. me go sign up for them rewards for them points because not have it have jet um American don't have none for southwest so I think I'm going to sign up with it they are very nice anyway on the plane I go with myself dear child and on the plane you know sit down beside this husband and wife white couple never really catch it but we were talking and they were saying um if I live in Jamaica and I said yes and I said um not anymore I live a foreign and she was saying to me you know she was saying oh my god I came to Jamaica and I love it I love it so much I don't know why people would want to leave this paradise you know that tourist so I tell her I say oh my god we Jamaicans don't find Jamaica nice like foreign people come here and find the country nice cuz a lot of Jamaicans when you hear them talk them want to leave Jamaica got foreign you know England, go Canada, go America, go all over like Jamaica is not enough. But for me love Jamaica, you only want have your money Jamaica and you're all right. And even if you don't have no money in Jamaica, you're all right because you have no stress. So like foreign people, but tourists come there and a lot of people from different countries and them value Jamaica, them like the ambiance, them like the settings, them like anything. So Jamaica is a treasure. So we could treasure it and we are a people that we are warmed every bad mind. We don't know what kind of one Jamaican mind anyway look nice and clean so the air me Lord if I don't make it down back out of this plane because you control it I ask you to make my soul right forgive me for anything that I might have done knowingly and unknowingly I talk to God I look down upon the ocean and I look on everything I said boy God could he God give man the power for do all of these things and the authority and the wisdom and the knowledge and make me tell you that bite me. You know what the lady I talk to but me listen to me do realize I do that. Oh, she was tell me that she had jerk chicken for the first time. She had jerk pork. She tell me say she go on the horse. She go down the river. All kind of something she had tell me.
You know when you book up on some people on a plane and want you want not say I'm being rude or anything but just feel tired and just want to relax you know.
Anyway they talk to me and talk to me till I think me fall asleep. Yes, me fall asleep and I was looking outside on the beautiful clouds up in the sky because metal some breed of rain fall rainfall rainfall rain fall anyway by that time me wake me up woman did a say something like I don't know what she was saying to her spouse like she looking phone like a clear picture I think they were clear picture and she one picture with the man next girl. I don't know if behind me sleep up and the woman say what your phone why so much because like go out like you know Jamaica meet people with them but you meet them and whatever. Anyway, so this me reach soon reach Orlando.
Look at Orlando outside. The cloud is so pretty. The atmosphere not like Orlando have some breed of lake. Florida come like water. These are all lakes and they are manmade lakes. Yeah man. The lake them out and when the plane nearly land you know pilot give the announcement 26 minutes circle immed.
Cloud is so pretty from above. The cloud was so beautiful and nice and the plane land now it come down and video carry it down looking at bush for long pine tree bush something. Anyway, the pilot the flight was very good. I said it was a female pilot at that. Mhm. And she land the plane very good. The plane go down, go down, go down and count down. One of the scariest part when the plane land the plane land down the runway and me tell airport big. You know me tell you when you land at airport you have to take a short train. It Miami go from point A to point B. Anyway, the plane land 5:26 by time we come out of the plane about 5:40 because we have to wait till the gate clear for them taxi in the plane never carry no luggage more than two and so carry it up on the plane and not come off of the one of the first one backend come up with the plane you know the one go and the man come off first and some other people and just come off with them and walk. By the time you reach out on immigration, >> why is it so hard to get a job in Jamaica, right? We apply to all 10 jobs and not one reach out. You me you see for me I wrote down every single job I applied to and it summed up to about 50 56. Can you imagine 56 job me apply to and not one guys? We have one associates degree and we have one bachelor's degree. I am currently doing my bachelor's degree right now. I'm on my last lap. And right now we feel like give up because guess what? Put in so much work. I try to apply for at least one entry- level job. But they say, "Oh, you need 100 years experience." You see me 100 years experience. I need I want entry level. That makes sense. I mean how gain experience if me not get the work. I want entry level job. Bro, it just don't make no sense. We know people who have three or four degree and apply to much of jobs and can't get one can't get one and understand at the bottom usually say yo at the job listing usually say only shortlisted people will be contacted but brother at least tell me say sorry you have not met the criteria at least brother write down the amount of job you apply to between this point of last year and this year and guess what not one not one reach out to me Guys just can't understand this. We can't understand this brother. We have one engineer degree and currently doing IT degree and not one can reach out to me brother. Sometime feel like the system just rigged them just know the people who they want choose to get the job long time like years before they put out job listing. not understand this, bro. Guys, let me know if it makes sense to finish the degree or continue it because know when done the degree already actually put in twice the amount of work did put in while doing the degree, we can't get no job. Now, tell me if it makes sense. Tell me if it makes sense.
Tell me if it makes sense. I see much, you know, much college students left school now and university students, U Tech, UC Mobile, all of the other colleges, probably over 2,000.
I'm probably out of the 2,000 only two can get job. That make sense? We can't understand this.
>> To all my Jamaicans that were born here and raised here, the best advice I could give to you is to leave the country. And the reason I say you need to leave the country is because once you leave the country, your mind will expand in ways that you never thought it could. I've only been here for 6 years and I can't tell you how many Jamaican people I've seen leave the country for the first time. And when they come back, there's something about them that's completely different. They always come back calmer.
Let's say before they left, they were loud, ghetto, miserable, angry. By the time they come back, they're calmer, as if they've been spiritually satisfied.
And the reason why they seem spiritually satisfied is because they got to see the rest of the world. If you are viewing the world from the viewpoint of Jamaica alone, it is very hard to stay happy because it's [ __ ] up out here. And Jamaicans, we have different rules. But once you get to engage in different cultures and be a part of systems that actually work, it makes you have hope for the future. You will no longer have a scarce mindset. You will start to think in abundance. How could I get more? Jamaica teaches you you need to be satisfied with your poverty and you better be grateful for the little bit of things that you do have. And I'm not saying there's anything necessarily wrong with thinking like that, but you want an abundance mindset. I met Jamaican people who say that they don't want to leave the country. They will never leave the country. And I I just don't understand them. I don't understand that. It's like, how could you live like this your whole entire life? And you know, I'm not say you you probably have a big house. You probably have a nice bank account, good career, all that stuff. You know what I'm saying? But still, don't you just want to see the rest of the world? Even when I was in America, I just wanted to travel. I would go online, see how Japanese people are living, Chinese people living, uh all these other types of cultures, and I wanted to go there just to experience something new. It's almost as if this country just teaches you to be stuck in a loop. Stuck in a loop. And if you try to break free from that loop, you looked at kind of weird.
I'm not saying leave the country and never come back. I'm saying leave the country just so you could gain some insight. I mean, I could say traveling fixed my depression. I was somewhat sad when I was in America. I was low-key miserable because I didn't know what the rest of the world looked like. When I traveled and came to Jamaica, I'm like, "Oh [ __ ] I had nothing to to worry about when I was in in America. Those problems weren't even problems. Now that I'm here, these are real problems." You know what I'm saying? So, because I'm here now, I'm I'm happy. I'm I'm grateful for everything because now I have um I have insight. I'm not just looking at life from an American perspective. I could see how the rest of the world thinks. And that's what I'm saying. That's why you need to travel.
I'm not saying travel just for the money. I'm saying you need to travel for the experience as well. Meet new people.
Cuz if you only know Jamaican people, [ __ ] you you going to be evil. You going to be you going to be an angry ass person. I'm telling you, you you need to meet happier people. So if you feel lost in life and you don't have a criminal record and you just want to experience more, just just find a way to to get that plane ticket and get the [ __ ] up out of here, bro. I'm telling you, it's the best decision you will ever make in life.
One of her Jamaican sisters is on the internet telling Jamaicans and other Caribbean people who are self-deporting themselves, listen up, don't do it. That is what she's saying. Specifically for Jamaica, she's saying that the country have too much crime and violence. The prospect for work is too low. So don't do it. Depending on where you're coming from, I can understand if you say, "I'm going to stay even though I'm illegal and I'm living in fear." Because if where you are is safer or better than where you coming from, it makes perfect sense. But to generalize that the entire island is completely unsafe doesn't make sense. And there is no job prospect is also very weak. There are marketable people living overseas and they are illegal and they still have the potential of having a successful life back home. A lot of people just don't want to go back because of shame and guilt. And a lot of people just never have the opportunity to build a successful life.
I said if you want to go back, go ahead and do it. I can't tell other people um what to do. I have a house in Jamaica.
My parents have house. My brothers have uh okay lives. So I I can go home whenever I want. I have a Dutch passport. But if I was illegal, I could also just go home because I have things to go to. I have family to go to. I have places to go. Not only do I have my own place, but if I didn't have it, my brother house have three floor and one of the the floor have been empty for 10 years. Literally just a empty apartment with everything in it. It's not like it's incomplete or anything. They don't want to rent it. He and his wife don't want to rent it. So, I have something to go for.
But I think what we should be doing is praying for our sisters across the Caribbean and uh across the Caribbean island and in Jamaica herself. Our Caribbean sister from um 80 just self deport herself after 30 years of living in the United States illegal. She didn't do it. Her parents took her there as a baby and she don't have no control over that. But somehow she successfully managed to go to college and university I think. So she have proper qualification to go home to but I don't know what it's going to end up in. What we should be doing is praying for each other and um hoping that it works out. So I think that's what we should join in now and do.
Father I come to you in the name of Jesus. You are the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega. Father, you are the God of Isaac. You are the God of Jacob. You are the God of Moses.
Father, you are the God of all gods, the king of all king. Father, you are great.
I want to come to you this morning and give you thanks for all the great things that you have done within our lives.
Things that we asked and didn't ask for.
I pray for you, pray for your blessing and your mercy upon our Caribbean sisters that are now self-deporting themselves because they're sick and tired of running and hiding. I pray that you will release angels, angel upon angels to cover them in the areas that they're going and they will be find and safe. I hope that you will open doors for them. Give them the opportunity to climb mountains higher than Blue Mountain, go down into valleys and rise.
I pray that you will provide for them in their time of needs, time of want, and still provide when there is nothing that they ask for. but continue to bless our Caribbean sisters as our sister enter into 80. God, I ask that you release a special angel. A special angel that will keep her safe there. This is not a place she has been to before. She have little to no knowledge of what she's entering into. But God, I believe she's entering into it with faith that it is going to work out. to all our Caribbean sisters who are going home. Father God, I ask that nothing but angels you will release. From the plane wings straight down to when it lands, every area that they're going into, God, I ask that you protect our sisters. We need your protection. We need your guidance. We need your direction. I ask that you will be with us, God. In your mighty name, in Jesus name I pray. Amen. We have to give thanks to God for everything. Whether it's going our way or not, we just have to give thanks. And we have to encourage our sisters when we see them stepping out and taking a risk. A lot of these people that are self-deporting themselves are people who took care of family members, took care of family members, and now they don't know what they're going to go into. But I ask that a mighty God will have these family members treat them well because very often because of lack of knowledge and understanding. They won't treat their family members well and they think you get this great opportunity and they don't make the best of it. But people with brain, people that are well read, they know that it has nothing to do with that.
But it's a it's a difficult battle. But a battle with God is a battle that worth fighting. And a battle with God will always bring success. Success success.
So what I'm asking now is that um we go and we go with faith for those of us who are going and I pray that everything will work out. I have no negativity towards it because I know that the need and the fear will make you make decision that is um may not be the greatest decision but anyway you take it I believe self- deepport is better than someone packing you up and sending you home because you don't get no time to prepare if you are not if you are self- deepporting yourself you are preparing some way somehow So you you have a better chance.
I pray for my Caribbean sisters cuz as women we have life order in this world.
I know some people going to come and debate it. I don't have time for you debate. Okay? I don't have time for you debate. Not today, not tomorrow. We bring children in this world. We have to take care of our children. Whether we are married, we single, whether we are plural or we are single. We have order time in this world. Everyone expect us to be strong, strong, strong and and keep going. We carry the world on our shoulders every single day. So guidance for all my Caribbean sisters returning home.
You do what you got to do. And I pray God's grace um great and greatest blessing upon all of you. Amen.
I moved to Jamaica thinking I was highly independent. Baby, I wore independence like it was going out of style. I used to say things like, "Oh, I got it. I'll figure it out. I don't need nobody."
That was me. Because in the United States, strugg struggling alone is just kind of a natural thing. You could be carrying 47 million emotional bags, 14 jobs, stress, anxiety, and you know, it's still just whatever. And somebody will still say to you, "Yes, sis, you're so strong."
Meanwhile, you are one eye twitch away from a collapse.
But moving to Jamaica started exposing me a bit because people here, they really help each other and I wasn't prepared for it. Not to say they don't in the US, don't get me wrong, but they really do in Jamaica. I remember somebody asking me who I didn't know if I ate and I immediately got suspicious.
I was like, "What?" Like, "What's the catch? Why are you concerned about my nutrition, ma'am?" Because in the US, if somebody randomly helps you too fast, your first thought is, "What do they want? What's the catch?" But here, people will literally stop and reason with you for 30 minutes like they don't have anywhere else to be. Meanwhile, my American brain still times conversations. Horrible. Like, okay, this was beautiful, but aren't we all supposed to be Russian somewhere?
Apparently not. And another thing, Jamaicans will ask personal questions quick. There's no um I shouldn't say manners because it's not like they lack manners cuz they're very mannerable.
It's more I don't know. They're just very inquisitive like are you married?
Where's your family? How long are you staying? Do you cook? And I'm like ma'am I just met you 14 seconds ago. But over time I started realizing something. A lot of what I called independence was just really survival mode. Because when you come from environments where everybody is overwhelmed, overworked, and stressed, you learn to just depend on yourself and you stop expecting help.
You stop expecting softness and you stop expecting community everywhere.
Everything becomes handle it yourself, fix it yourself, carry it yourself. But Island Life has been teaching me that life feels lighter when people actually show up for each other. And honestly, I think Americans are so used to hyperindependence that some of us don't even know how to relax into being cared for anymore. We think accepting help means we're not capable or weakness.
Meanwhile, Jamaicans out here borrowing seasoning, sharing mangoes, checking on neighbors, talking to strangers, and building community early in the morning.
And I'm over here still saying, "No, no, I got it."
Jamaica is teaching me that there is strength in community, too. Not just survival, not hustle, not just carrying everything alone. And maybe real freedom is improving you don't need anybody.
Maybe real freedom is finally being somewhere that reminds you you are never ever ever supposed to do life alone in the first place.
Once again, thanks for listening. Love, health, and wealth. Peace.
Every time I'm post main content, people are so shocked why I moved to Maine. And I would be shocked myself, but I feel like you guys don't know my backstory.
So, let me tell you and then you guys could um judge for yourself. But, okay.
So, my sister, my family and I used to live in New York, right? We used to live in Long Island, in Queens. I loved New York. The culture unmatched, opportunities unmatched. Um, but one thing that I had an issue with was affordability. It was very hard to find somewhere decent to live. If you don't have a lot of money, it's very hard to find somewhere decent to live and somewhere where you're comfortable. and that I don't love to feel uncomfortable in any space that I'm in because let's be honest when I was living in Jamaica never uncomfortable my parents at them house and whenever I catch nobody would never uncomfortable so don't want to come up here uncomfortable you know what I mean so that was one thing that I hated I felt like we were uncomfortable and rent was really exp like still expensive like we were paying five 67 $8,000 in rent.
Rent. So, it it's a lot of money living in New York, right? And majority of these places that are charging you 6K for rent didn't even have a washer and dryer. You have to go to a laundromat to wash your clothes. It wasn't going to work for me. So, my family and I decided to move to Maine. And yes, it was a huge jump um leaving New York and moving to Maine.
Definitely opportunities is not a pro here. Um but affordability was better.
My family and I were able to buy a a three-story home, four bedrooms, two baths, very large land space. The land space is crazy. And we were we're in a very good neighborhood. And that's something that I loved. We are literally 5 minutes away from the beach. Um yeah, it's just really it it's it's really good. It's it's Maine is just pretty quiet. Really not much happens here.
There's not really a lot of night life here, but it's fine. But I would definitely say the downside is the fact that I'm not able to enhance my career even further here. But the good thing is that um my job is fully remote. And even though we're based in New York, I'm fully remote. So I don't have to worry about like commute or anything like that. And I get I get paid pretty well to be honest. So it's not like a huge issue. Um, and the biggest city closest to Maine is Boston. So, my sister and I go to Boston all the time to shop and, you know, just have fun if you want to have fun. But that's the downside. And also, winters are brutal here. But again, it's durable. So, I think that's the reason why my sister and my family and I decided to move to Maine. It's just affordability wise. If we were supposed to purchase the same house that we currently have here in Maine in New York, it would probably cost anywhere between 800,000 to about 1.5 million.
That's how much it will cost for the same house. So again, it was just ensuring that we were comfortable and we were in a good space. And another thing what I would tell people here that wants to are is thinking about moving to Maine, especially my Jamaican Caribbean people, listen Maine is definitely for people who want to retire, want to settle down, start their family already accomplished. If you are none of those things, I would not recommend living in Maine. I would definitely say go out in a big city, grow your grow your career, um do everything that you want to do, and once you're done with that life, then come to Maine, retire, go to the beach every day, and just chill and just be happy. But for my young people, no, I would not recommend living in Maine. But yeah, that's my backtory. If you guys want more about Maine or if you guys want me to post more Maine content so you guys can see Maine through my eyes, let me know. But yeah, that's the reason why we decided to move to Maine.
>> W beautiful people of a m. So my good people, in today's video, it's a very interesting one because at this point, you know, when the UNP came out with this report that half of Jamaicans are considering migration within the next 3 years.
I mean, all of us got shocked.
We were shocked and you can clearly hear from the clips and also of course you have those who are justifying why it's important to leave.
And you know what guys uh if you talk about this migration it's deeper than the money that most people think about because people think that they move to go get money more money.
So as you can see uh from that report uh Jamaica is emptying not because or people want to leave Jamaica or Jamaicans want to leave Jamaicans or are planning to leave Jamaicans not because they hate Jamaica.
Understand that guys, they want to migrate to other first world countries just because too many of them kind of feel emotionally disconnected from their future.
Kindly understand that guys.
And of course that eats differently. Now we're talking about something different because you know what guys for so many years Jamaicans have always said that migration was meant to get rid of poverty. You know we only went abroad to make home to be a better place. But now you can clearly see even the educated ones they want to migrate.
Even the the the employed one ones the salaried ones they want to migrate.
You can I mean even in my own country it happens people that have good paying jobs they have cars they have businesses but they still want to live.
So there was a report uh by UNDP that reported that about 54% of Jamaicans are considering to migrate within the next 3 years and I can tell you in the entire Caribbean that's the largest percentage that we've ever heard about one of the highest.
So today we will be discussing everything to do with migration and I don't know uh because we normally call this brain drain but today I would love uh to call it future drain you know when you leave your home and go build another home or another town it's normally called brain drain but why should you consider it is future future drain in this particular uh analysis of ours.
Most of the time the conversation to do with migration normally focuses on salary.
But I can tell you that money alone does not explain this migration thing anymore simply because there are so many Jamaicans uh abroad that are still struggling.
Not every not everyone makes it by the way. People are struggling with high rent.
People are struggling with cold uh weather, with stress, with loneliness.
You know, one beautiful thing about uh living in third world countries is the fact that if today I don't have salt, I can easily knock at my neighbor's door and ask them for a cup of salt. Not even a a tablespoon of salt but a cup.
We easily check on each other like the entire day I've not seen my neighbor. I need to ignore what's really happening. That is the beauty.
So some go face loneliness.
But again many people prefer the uncertainity abroad over that comfort uh comfortness and the comfort zone at home.
That is because migration in today's world is more of psychological.
People want to migrate into a system that they believe it's going to work for them. It's going to reward their effort.
And if you and if you look at it uh like deeply, it's very important.
A system that rewards your effort, not your perfection. I mean oh my god it's just beautiful to talk about this thing and you know one thing with us human beings when we are appreciated I mean we feel so good.
So there are several situations whereby young Jamaican people get to work hard for so so many years in Jamaica and they still feel stuck.
They don't feel like they are moving forward in terms of their future.
They're not seeing any bright future.
And I can tell you that once uh someone or even a society loses uh the they believe in uh growth in upward movement.
This migration thing starts coming in their mind.
They just want to leave because at this point nothing works.
They have been working hard for so long but the system is not rewarding their efforts.
They are only looking at perfection.
They want them to perfect in uh what they are doing.
So questions come in and uh people start asking so many questions like now with this system whereby they don't even recognize my effort how will I build how will I ever grow and of course they'll start searching and asking questions about how are they going to leave very fast, very very fast, people want to leave.
So those are some of the things that make people want to migrate or Jamaicans want to migrate.
So as you all know, Jamaica has become an island whereby it is powered by the migration uh culture by itself. And if you sit down and think about this just I mean if you just sit down and think about all this story many people in Jamaica have grown up knowing that if you go to school it's very easy to migrate but if you don't go to school you will be stuck here in Jamaica.
So that notion itself it changes everything as you grow up. If you want to go to America, if you want to go to England, ensure that you go to school.
So in that essence, migration, the word migration itself becomes a success. It's it's a success branding, you know.
you it is still in your mind that in order for you to go abroad and live a better life you have to go to school. So you see what uh that does into our mind.
So at the end of the day, you'll actually see family members uh that live abroad and they're successful and in that in that case you'll actually start viewing them as uh you know these symbols of achievements and all manner of things. These three that you can block a working ATM you start seeing uh goodies iPhones remittances Western Union money man accent change they they no longer use PWA now it's uh the twang and that's how most Jamaicans find themselves connecting with the value of migration.
So when uh Jamaican people leave and then they get to improve their homes, their living standard of their parents, their families, I mean the mindset of the rest of Jamaicans uh will change definitely.
And there's there'll be this thing in the mind that real success exists somewhere else, not in Jamaica, which is sad.
Sad but very powerful because at the end of the day migration will start will uh start stop it will stop being uh something like an emergency decision you know and then it now becomes a cultural expectation.
And you know people uh see videos of other people that have migrated.
They go stay for like one to two years and then they are like way ahead. They have cars. They have good homes.
Beautiful life. That's what you see in social media.
But of course that's not the real real like uh feeling, you know. Those are just some few seconds of their happy times. But of course, we also have the sad times which most people tend not to show.
And then there you find ordinary Jamaicans in the beautiful island start they start comparing their lives with those that have gone or traveled abroad.
So probably you see a young man or a girl in St. James in Granville in Montego Bay.
Now this mental competition kicks in.
They start comparing their lives back to back with this part with this person that is in Canada, America or probably Britain and that is very dangerous because it creates it creates a psychological inflation and uh the expectation of uh people in the island will start to kind of rise in some way the expectations to live and you know many people will now start feeling like by us staying back in Jamaica it's going to make us you know lag behind and not improve our lives so that's something that is happening but I can tell you that Jamaica Jamaica is very strong and it's beautiful.
It has a very good culture.
But again, the irony is that many Jamaicans abroad, as I told you, experience this loneliness moments.
So in short they are unhappy they experience not all the time and uh that is the point to where most of us don't discuss this migration issue the an loneliness moment we only see the behind the scenes like we don't see the behind the scenes we only saw the ones in social media the success story but behind closed doors there is isolation depression identity confusion, burnout because if you are black in these developed countries, you work harder and harder compared to the white people.
That's what I came to learn about by just, you know, following up on these stories every day, learning.
I mean, black people in America, they don't even live, they survive, guys.
It's even very hard for them to own homes.
And of course, it's very important to talk about this. Also, migrants, Jamaican migrants spend so many years abroad.
So many years, even decades without them feeling like they're at home, which is sad.
And then we come in and see people wanting to return to Jamaica.
They're so emotional.
But in this return, it's emotional to them, not economical. So at the end of the day, they they'll not come.
I hope you you understand that guys.
Their return is emotional not economical because you know they miss the culture they miss uh that togetherness the identity the community you know whereby you just talk in your village then you start talking here and there stories you know there is nothing like that in America and then also people fear instability so you'll find them in the middle. They don't know where to go this direction or to go in the other direction. You know, that's really crazy.
They are not fully here nor there.
And I can honestly tell you that.
That is one of the most hidden psychological costs of migration.
It looks beautiful but people don't really talk about these things uh sometimes.
So if you look at uh Jamaica in its globally uh you can clearly see that if you put I mean if you talk about this story globally it's not something that affects Jamaica only but other countries in the world.
Anyway, UN has always been warning that you see this migration thing, it will continue increasing globally because of economic pressures in this other uh parts of the world, urbanization, tech, social inequality.
But Jamaica's situation feels more emotional because this country exports culture by the way globally.
I mean their culture is something very unique very unique in some way. I don't even know how to explain that.
And you know even as you know I think in my video the one that you watch before this I told you that I already feel like I'm a Jamaican because every day I talk about Jamaica.
These people are supportive by the way.
So many Jamaicans they feel disconnected from the opportunity within the island itself and you know that creates a lot of frustration among themselves.
or in their inner self and that's where they start thinking about migration.
So this is something that you need to really understand from both sides.
The point or the story that I've not heard people talking about is what I want to tell you now.
You know this migration thing is not only draining Jamaica, it's also shaping or reshaping Jamaica into a trans national or yeah into a transnational uh island.
In that case, uh this is what I mean that Jamaica no longer exists on the island on the beautiful island.
Part of it exists in New York City. Part of it exists in uh UK, London, Toronto, Florida.
And you know this changes the politics, this changes the business, the housing, the culture and even expectation.
So as you can see at the moment this diaspora thing it has influenced our local dreams in uh Jamaica and it's very very important sometimes even more than local institutions themselves and you know that uh at the end of the day creates what you call a a strange future you know Because at the end of the day, these countries with every migration culture, they risk becoming emotionally dependent on departures.
And that is very very risky and very very dangerous because imagine if the brightest people, you know, believe that or the brightest people in Jamaica get to believe that their future, their bright future is somewhere else.
Just imagine that situation. they're not going to achieve a better future in Jamaica but somewhere else. So you see even innovations in Jamaica will be down. It will really really slow down and that is because uh it's not like the you know the education system or the talent has disappeared.
It's because of the long-term belief.
You know that success exists somewhere else and that leaving Jamaica is the only way that you can better your life and develop your f and uh prepare for a good future.
So some people truly need better opportunities and we can see that some other people they just want safety, better healthare, higher income, better education for their children.
And you see those points are very very valid. It's not like they're not valid.
But I can tell you that thinking about migration cannot solve that frustration because of course every country in their world in the world they have or they experience their own problems.
But again that on that case of countries having their own problems many migrants don't think about that. They only discover that later on when they have already gone to that country and the foreign dream that has been in the mind of everybody it ends it ends up becoming a survival system. You know this for dreaming the picture of good life luxury cars you know it becomes another survival system only that it's in they are actually experiencing it in another location and you know just everything different.
So probably you can comment down below.
Let's have this conversation because even me I'm really wondering like honestly me I've never ever wished like to relocate or to migrate probably I will just want to visit and then come back visit come back only.
Why do you think uh Jamaicans are leaving?
And what is this thing that makes Jamaican people to believe that their future will only be achieved somewhere else?
You know once a country or an island has lost the confidence that becomes very different thing.
So uh thank you so much if you watched the clip up to this point. I truly appreciate your presence here. I'll see you in the next video. I love you to the moon and back.
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