Nascimento Blair had been without the touch of his native soil under his feet for nearly twenty years. The man, as well as his motherland, had gone through significant transformations during this time. Mr. Blair, in his homeland once again, felt an uncanny strangeness, like someone exploring an enigmatic, unfamiliar territory. This was far from the warm, embrace-like homecoming he had dreamed of.
The prodigal son of Jamaica, Nascimento returned home under less than joyous circumstances. Arriving on the sunny island in February, he had departed his homeland two decades prior. His companions on the flight were numerous fellow countrymen, all of whom were similarly restrained. As he disembarked the aircraft at an airport near the beach in Kingston, finding himself under the piercing sun that reminded him of his formative years, Blair, then 46, was on the receiving end of skeptical scrutinies.
His arrival evoked a sense of disorientation and he appeared conspicuously out of sync. Blair was wearing the same winter attire – a double-breasted overcoat, a high-necked shirt and, indicative of his recent past in the US, a gray ensemble and Chelsea boots – that he had put on the day he was unexpectedly taken into custody by American immigration officials, during one frosty dawn in New York, weeks ago.
As he spoke, he was struck by the slight American twang his accent had acquired, particularly during the several hours of inquisition he endured at the hands of Jamaican authorities at the airport. His reception by the officials, marked by mandatory mug shots, fingerprinting and probing questions about his bygone years, made him feel distanced from his fellow Jamaicans. “You’re seen through a different lens,” said Blair. “You’re perceived more as a transgressor and less as a Jamaican.”
However, Mr. Blair remained reticent when it came to discussing his past. His saga was no simple tale, starting with a stint peddling cannabis in the suburbs of New York as a 24-year-old new arrival from Jamaica. This hop step in the illegal trade ended with a dubious conviction of kidnapping and a robust 15-year-long prison term.
The shadow of his past, imprinted by criminal activities, had been the driving force behind his deportation from the United States, a nation where he was making efforts to turn over a new leaf and acquire salvation. The man had acquired two academic degrees and launched his own trucking enterprise. More so, he extended support to individuals newly released from jail, shouldered the care of a spouse battling breast cancer, and even enrolled himself in classes at the prestigious Columbia University.
Despite these commendable endeavors to amend his past and reinstate his life in society, Nascimento was powerless against the might of deportation orders. His was just one story amidst the thousands of immigrants disseminated worldwide during the early days of President Trump’s commendable strategy to tighten United States’ security measures.
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