The Trump administration has been accused of orchestrating what analysts describe as the “largest fraud in U.S. immigration history,” after allegedly collecting more than $1 billion in visa and immigration fees from applicants — potentially including Tongans — whose cases were intentionally stalled or never processed.
A new analysis by the Cato Institute claims the administration froze visa and legal status applications for citizens of 92 countries, effectively taking payments for petitions that authorities no longer intended to adjudicate.
According to the report, applicants were left in limbo as U.S. agencies allegedly refused both to approve or formally deny their cases, preventing refunds and blocking appeals.
“The US government is taking fees from immigrants and US sponsors for services that it has no plans to provide,” the report claimed.
“The government took their money, and now it won’t even adjudicate their applications—in many cases, it refuses even to issue denials.”
The report stated that the State Department was instructing consular officers not to inform future applicants from the affected countries that they had been banned by the government.
The report said the alleged fraud resulted from three policies introduced by President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and USCIS director Joseph Edlow.
While the Cato Institute does not publish a list of the affected countries, Tonga appears on recent Trump‑era U.S. travel‑restriction and visa‑freeze lists—making Tongan applicants potentially among those affected.
Mainstream media attempted to seek comment from the Trump administration, but no response was provided.
According to the analysis, the Trump administration’s immigration measures included expanded travel bans affecting at least 40 countries, alongside a freeze in visa processing for 75 nations that U.S. officials claimed posed a risk of over‑reliance on American welfare systems.
These combined restrictions have created a backlog of an estimated two million immigration applications, leaving applicants with no clear pathway forward.
Tonga Faces U.S. Restrictions
The allegations come as the Trump White House faces increasing scrutiny over a wide series of immigration restrictions which heavily target developing nations — including Tonga, one of the Pacific Island nations placed under newly expanded U.S. visa limitations beginning 1 January 2026.
Restrictions apply to B‑1/B‑2 visitor visas and F, M, and J study‑related visas, cutting off key pathways historically used by Tongans to enter the United States. The U.S. cited “security‑focused screening and vetting concerns,” including document‑verification standards and visa overstay rates, as justification.
The move has caused widespread anxiety within the 70,000‑strong Tongan community in the United States, with many fearing that family visits, graduations, funerals, and cultural gatherings will be disrupted. Critics argue that the restrictions — which disproportionately impact non‑white and developing nations — echo the racially‑motivated quotas of the 1920s.
Visas Continue Under Scrutiny
Despite the restrictions, the United States continues to grant visas to some Tongan applicants, who told Kaniva News that travel is still possible — but only after undergoing a significantly stricter scrutiny process.
The Trump administration had warned Tonga in June last year that a travel ban could be imposed if the country failed to meet certain cooperation requirements, although the specifics of those conditions were never made public.
As of 1 January 2026, the United States formally imposed restrictions on Tongan travellers for the first time, including a partial suspension of B‑1/B‑2 visitor visas and several study‑related categories — a move indicating that the kingdom had not satisfied the Trump administration’s concerns following its warning issued in June.
U.S. immigration authorities later announced that applicants who are still deemed eligible may also be required to pay a refundable visa bond of between US $5,000 and US $15,000, creating a significant new financial hurdle for Tongan travellers.
Tonga’s Prime Minister, Lord Fakafanua, recently revealed that around 60 Tongan students enrolled at BYU–Hawai‘i were unable to obtain visas for the upcoming semester because of the new U.S. restrictions.
He said the government is working closely with American authorities to resolve the issue.
Tongan scholars and community leaders have criticised the inclusion of Tonga in the restrictive lists. Many note that Tonga has long cooperated with the U.S. on security matters, including deploying troops to support U.S. missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A Guardian report noted widespread frustration in Nuku‘alofa, quoting experts who argued that Tongans “pose no threat” to U.S. security and that the decision punishes families and students rather than addressing any documented wrongdoing.
