Ten of thousands of Tongan overstayers living in the United States have found themselves significantly impacted by next week’s mass deportation threats.
The Tongan community has voiced concerns about how this state of uncertainty could affect their families and future.
Reported figures of undocumented Tongans varied up to 10,000. These figures were believed to be undercounted because many potential respondents were hesitant to participate in interviews or surveys, fearing that their information could be reported to immigration authorities or used against them.
In 2020, the US Census reported that 78,871 people in the US have Tongan ancestry.
In an interview with Kaniva News, some undocumented Tongans have expressed their concerns regarding the implications of the impact on their families. They asked not to be identified because of their illegal immigration statuses.
They said that to avoid the risk of deportation or legal issues, they feel compelled to stop going to work, which significantly impacts their livelihoods and well-being.
Despite the challenges posed by their immigration status, they made a firm commitment to remain in the United States. Their decision came even in light of Trump’s public declarations urging individuals who had overstayed their visas to leave the country voluntarily.
One study described the Tongan community in the States as “a struggling Tongan immigrant population”.
Research by Tongan scholar Vanesa Tu’i’one and others, which was published by the National Library of Medicine, says Tongans have among Los Angeles County’s lowest per capita incomes, and more than one in four Tongan Americans (28.5%) in Los Angeles County live under the Federal Poverty Level (US Census 2000).
The president-elect also planned to “end birthright citizenship for US-born children of some noncitizens” which is another blow to undocumented Tongans who have already settled their lives in the States.
Kingdom of Tonga
Tonga, an archipelago located in the South Pacific Ocean, has over 200,000 people. More than 50 percent of this population comprises Tongans living in the diaspora.
Tonga is considered one of the poorest countries globally, with more than 50 percent of its national budget relying on overseas donors.
The extreme poverty rate, according to the Parliament’s Hansard 22 Sune 2023, increased to 27 per cent.
Tonga’s economy relies heavily on remittances from Tongans living abroad, making it susceptible to external economic fluctuations.
The majority of the population relies on subsistence agriculture and fishing, and many families struggle to access basic services and opportunities for education and employment.
Arrival in the US
Tongans first came to Laie, Hawaii, in 1916 (Hawaii was a U.S. territory at the time). The number of immigrants increased dramatically at the end of World War II when Mormon labour missionaries from Tonga migrated to Hawaii to build the church’s Laie Hawaii Temple, Church College of Hawaii, and Polynesian Cultural Center.
The first record of a Tongan immigrating to the mainland United States was in 1956.
According to Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) records for the 1950s, 14 Tongans were admitted in 1958, 4 were admitted in 1960, and a record 119 arrived in 1966.
During the 1970s, Tongan migration ranged from 133 admissions in 1976 to 809 in 1979.