The shallowness of Jamaica’s democracy is now on full display. Despite widespread public opposition to partnering with the United States to receive third-country nationals—foreign nationals whom the United States seeks to remove but whose home countries are unwilling or unable to accept—the Andrew Holness administration remains determined to proceed.

The United States is geographically larger, economically stronger, and far better equipped to accommodate these individuals. Additionally, many of the people it seeks to remove have established lives there and do not impose an undue burden on the country. Why, then, should they be sent to Jamaica? Our willingness to participate in this arrangement reflects our desperation to appease Washington and greed rather than any firm principle.

For a nation with a sordid history of slavery, to willingly participate in another scheme that treats people as commodities is deeply troubling. While these individuals would not endure the horrors our ancestors suffered, the underlying principle is disturbingly similar: human beings are being traded internationally for financial benefit.