A total of 151 Tongans are currently among the estimated 1.4 million people in the United States who are at risk of deportation, reports said.
It comes after President Donald Trump held firm to his campaign promise of conducting the biggest mass deportations for undocumented immigrants, specifically targeting individuals he has identified as criminals, in the history of the United States.
Since his inauguration on January 20, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Enforcement and Removal Operations has arrested more than 3,500 unauthorised immigrants across the US. The Trump administration has also started sending deportation flights — US military aircraft carrying migrants to their countries of origin or third nations.
The revelation comes after what appeared to be a document compiled by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations was released to the media showing a list of hundreds of countries worldwide.
The document said the deportees were people with removable non-citizen status who are not currently held in ICE detention.
Kaniva News was unable to verify the reports with the US authorities.
Nigeria’s Punch newspaper, which reported the document, said one of its US-based correspondents sighted the list.
MSN news outlet also reported a similar list.
Titled “Noncitizens on the ICE Non-Detained Docket with Final Orders of Removal by Country of Citizenship”, the document shows Fiji at the top of the list of Pacific Island nations facing the most deportation, with 353, while Samoa has only 57.
Other Pacific Island nations included Tuvalu, with one deportee; Solomon Islands has three, while Kiribati also has three.
Reports by the US media said the arrests by ICE appear to remain along the lines of “routine operations” and not part of a large-scale raid in any one place.
Trump’s designated border czar, Tom Homan, told Fox News on Wednesday that ICE had conducted 308 arrests across the country.
Meanwhile, some countries were preparing to welcome their deportees.
In Mexico, workers set up a tent city to house deportees.
The tent city offers basic necessities and a sense of community for those affected by the challenging circumstances of deportation.
Tonga situation
The document does not specify the categories or types of deportees involved.
In Tonga, there were concerns that a potential influx of criminals deported from the United States could worsen the nation’s struggle against sophisticated drug crime-related activities. Many believe these issues are already being exacerbated by experienced deported criminals who are currently in the country.
Recent reports indicated that the Hu’atolitoli Prison and its psychiatric facility were facing issues of overcrowding.
Many of the patients being treated there were victims of illicit drug use.
It was estimated that about 30 convicted criminals have been deported to Tonga each year since 2010.
See the full list below:
