Jamaican on US most wanted list

WASHINGTON, CMC – United States immigration authorities have placed a Jamaican national on its “Most Wanted” list.

The Immigration and Enforcement Agency (ICE) said that Hubert Thompson Downer is wanted for “Illegal re-entry as an aggravated felon and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

ICE said that Downer, 50, who weighs about 160 pounds, is originally from the tourist resort city of Montego Bay.

The agency said he uses many false names including Michael David Reid, David George Johnson, and Calvin Peter Green.

ICE said Downer’s last known address was Owings Mills, Maryland.

It warned the public not to attempt to apprehend the fugitive, adding that if the public has information about his “whereabouts” to “immediately contact your local US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office or call the national hotline as soon as possible”.

Meanwhile, a coalition of immigration groups has joined forces with two United States congressional members in calling on President Barack Obama to end what they described as the “senseless and unjust” deportation of Caribbean and other immigrants and the suffering of their families.

The New York Immigration Coalition, comprising many immigrant groups in the metropolitan area, Brooklyn Democratic Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, and Illinois Democratic Congressman Luis Gutierrez rallied with other elected officials and Caribbean immigrants over the weekend at Kings County Hospital Center in Central Brooklyn.

“It’s important that our Latino brothers and sisters not bear the brunt of the broken immigration system,” declared Clarke, host of the event, who represents the 11th Congressional District in Brooklyn, the largest district of Caribbean nationals in the United States.

Gutierrez, a leading voice in the US Congress for comprehensive immigration reform, and the New York Immigration Coalition urged Caribbean and other immigrants to join a “Pen Campaign” by writing President Obama “to take executive action – with the stroke of a pen – to undo some of damage caused by harsh enforcement policies.

New York City Councilman Dr. Mathieu Eugene, the first ever Haitian to be elected to the city Council, said “the issue of deportation is a crime to the immigrant community.

Bishop Orlando Findlayter, the Jamaican-born chairman of the Brooklyn-based Churches United to Save and Heal (CUSH), said he was delighted to participate in the rally.