Tsunami of US exiles heading Pacific way
Gang members and other troubled people sent by Trump to Tonga
Quite soon, the way President Donald Trump now talks, a United States military aircraft will be landing at Tonga’s Fua’amotu Airport to offload dozens of Tongan citizens rounded up for being in the US without the proper documentation.
Like other Pacific states including Fiji and Sāmoa, an unsettling number of them will have gang and criminal connections. In the case of Tonga, the 2006 destruction of Nuku’alofa, shows the consequences.
A sweeping crackdown on immigration was the centerpiece of Trump’s campaign.
‘On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program of criminals in the history of America,’ Trump promised in late October 2024.
While it is yet to happen, his press secretary Karoline Leavitt left no room for doubt:
‘President Trump will marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers in American history while simultaneously lowering costs for families.’
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