By Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka raised concerns that the mass deportation of criminals from the U.S. posed a safety risk to Pacific Island states in a meeting with the Congressional Pacific Islands Caucus chairman, Fiji’s government said on Thursday.
Rabuka is the first Pacific Islands leader to visit Washington to press the region’s concerns since U.S. President Donald Trump took office, with the Trump Administration’s withdrawal from international climate change commitments a major focus for the low-lying island states.
Rabuka will attend a presidential prayer breakfast on Thursday and is also expected to meet with Republican senators.
Hundreds of Pacific Islanders with convictions are expected to be deported from the U.S., newspapers in Fiji, Tonga, Papua New Guinea and Marshall Islands have reported, prompting concern over the capacity of small communities to absorb returnees with serious convictions for drug and gang activity.
Rabuka discussed the deportations in the meeting with caucus chairman Ed Case, the Democratic Congressman for Hawaii.
“Fiji has begun discussions with various ministries and international law enforcement agencies in relation to the deportation process of Fijians from the U.S.,” the Fiji statement said.
“The Prime Minister stressed the need for more coordinated efforts to ensure that individuals involved in serious crimes do not pose threats upon their return,” it added.
Fiji hoped Trump would reconsider his decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement because the Pacific Islands bore the brunt of the climate crisis, the statement said.
Officials from the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia, whose citizens have the right to live and work in the U.S. under Compacts of Free Association, held a joint meeting in Washington with the U.S. Departments of State and Interior on Sunday, Micronesia said in a statement.
The Marshall Islands last week warned citizens living in the U.S. not to open the door to immigration officials without a judicial warrant, amid fears the community is being caught in Trump’s crackdown on undocumented migrants.
Trump’s executive order should not apply to citizens of the Freely Associated States who live and work in the U.S. legally under special provisions, the statement said.
Funding to the three island states should also not be paused under the U.S. freeze on foreign aid, the Pacific Islands officials said in the meeting.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Michael Perry)
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