RESIDENT MAGISTRATE Judith Pusey has given the Ministry of Justice one month to further investigate and determine the origin of an alien deported to Jamaica.

The man, Linden Graham, has been in a Jamaican jail since July 3, 2006. He was deported from the United States of America.

Graham told The Sunday Gleaner that he was never interviewed by a Jamaican consulate about his nationality and said that he was born in Christianstead, St. Croix.

Attorney-at-law, Peter Cham-pagnie, filed a writ of habeas corpus earlier this month, with a view to getting Graham released from custody.

Immediate investigation

When the matter was mentioned in court on Wednesday, attorneys from the Ministry of Justice requested two months to do further processing to determine Graham's nationality.

Champagnie, however, told the magistrate that Graham has been in jail for an a very long time.

RM Pusey ruled that the ministry do further investigation to determine Graham's nationality by November 25, at which time the matter will again come up for mention.

The Sunday Gleaner was the first to uncover the story of Graham, in February of this year. Then, Leighton Wilson, director of immigration services, told The Sunday Gleaner that Graham was not a Jamaican.

"We have verified that he is not a Jamaican, but we cannot verify his nationality. We have done our check and we are satisfied that he is not a Jamaican," Wilson said.

Discussions with embassy

Subsequent to that, Gilbert Scott, permanent secretary in the Ministry of National Security and the country's chief immigration officer, said: "We have been in communication with the United States Embassy here in Jamaica in order to resolve the matter. In our most recent discussions, the United States has again indicated that they cannot acknowledge Mr. Graham as a citizen of the United States, and, therefore, cannot accept him back into that country."

Since his arrival in the island, Graham has been housed at the Kingston Central police lock-up. He got sick on one occasion and had to be admitted to the Kingston Public Hospital.

Despite optimistic that his time in jail might be coming to an end, Graham told The Sunday Gleaner that he wants to be sent back to the United States.

"I want them to send me back to the U.S. who wrongfully deported me here," he said.