Convicted Jamaican Criminals Await Deportation After Prison Release in U.S.

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has announced that two Jamaican nationals convicted of serious crimes are currently in its custody as they await deportation.

According to ICE, 44-year-old Nascimento Blair entered the U.S. as a non-immigrant on March 4, 2004, but violated the terms of his admission. Blair was arrested by the Mount Vernon Police Department in New York on October 12, 2005, for first-degree kidnapping. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

An immigration judge ordered Blair’s removal from the U.S. on August 4, 2008. Although he appealed the decision, the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed the appeal on November 6, 2008. Blair was released on parole by the New York State Department of Corrections on April 9, 2020, and was re-arrested on July 16, 2024.

ICE also confirmed the detention of 67-year-old Nevel Larey Heslop, another Jamaican national who entered the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident on August 18, 1984. Heslop was convicted of homicide in New Jersey on November 1, 1991, and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

He was ordered deported by an immigration judge on June 14, 1996. His subsequent appeal was dismissed by the Board of Immigration Appeals on April 23, 1997. Upon his release from local custody on April 23, 2021, ICE took Heslop into custody. However, Jamaica did not issue a travel document while he filed a motion to reopen his appeal, leading to his temporary release under an order of supervision.

Heslop was later arrested by New York City authorities on February 4, 2025, and is now back in ICE custody.

ICE has reiterated its commitment to removing non-citizens who have committed serious offenses and who have been ordered removed from the country through due legal process.