Home Away From Home: The Jamaica/South Florida Connection

The community of Melrose Park in Broward County, South Florida is ranked #1 in the United States as having the largest number of residents born in Jamaica. Other areas with large concentration of Jamaicans include Lauderhill, Lauderdale lakes, Miramar and North Lauderdale. Broward county itself is home to over 100,000 Jamaicans  but according to Dale Holness, Jamaican-born commissioner for Broward county district 9, the number is probably much larger as there are a number of undocumented immigrants in the county who have not been captured by the official statistics. Other parts of South Florida with large concentrations of Jamaicans are Miami – Dade and Palm Beach counties which provide succor and comfort to undocumented Jamaican immigrants who come to the USA on a visitor’s visa and remain in the country beyond the allotted time. 

Commissioner Holness has important advice for Jamaicans who intend to make such a move. Don’t!!!  and especially not now as with the current political climate in the country and the anti-immigrant feelings of many who are in power, it is a quick way to get a prison sentence and immediate deportation after. 

Holness is one Jamaican who has come to the USA and has stayed and made it legitimately having migrated to this country as a teenager. In spite of his many years living in the us and achieving elected political office thus making him an integral part of the ‘system’. This Trelawny born native is not shy about describing himself as a ‘country boy’ and remains proud of his  roots and his Jamaican heritage, especially  his countrymen and countrywomen’s  penchant for hard work and commitment to family . 

Holness did not always have things easy in life. He recalls growing up not having a lot of material things and having  to learn to make do and satisfy with what he had. Not that things are easy these days; “being a public servant” he says “is a lot of work. It takes time away from your family and yourself” . But he is not complaining because Holness feels it is his calling. He entered representational politics in 2004 and was elected as a city of Lauderhill commissioner and served as vice mayor on two occasions, in 2007 and 2010 before successfully contesting the election for Broward County commissioner District 9, an office he has held since 2010. 

Holness believes that Jamaica is ripe for investment, “Investors and organizations from around the world want to do business with Jamaica and view the country as a solid trading partner.” Jamaicans in the diaspora have long argued that they have not been given their due recognition by those at home in spite of their investment and the level of remittance in excess of US$2 billion per year, now one of the primary sources of foreign exchange for the country. However, Holness urged those in the diaspora to continue building the Jamaican economy with investment.

Like so many Jamaicans living outside the country, he misses life in the land of wood and water. “I miss the beauty of my island and its people. The ease of life, and, in some ways, the simplicity.  We are an ingenious people and our impact is visible whether at home or abroad, so in many ways Jamaica is always with me.”