Deportation to Paradise: Trump Admin Pays Pacific Nation $7.5M to Take 75 Migrants

In a striking expansion of its deportation strategy, the Trump administration has secured a deal with the tiny Pacific nation of Palau to accept up to 75 deportees from the U.S. in exchange for $7.5 million in foreign aid. Formalized through a memorandum of understanding, the agreement covers “third-country nationals” who have never been charged with a crime, allowing them to live and work in the island nation of approximately 18,000 people. The U.S. Embassy stated the move underscores a top enforcement priority, while Palau’s government cited critical labor shortages as a key reason for accepting the arrangement, framing it as a solution to local economic needs.

This pact is part of a broader, accelerated push by the administration to execute mass removals, offering financial incentives to nations willing to accept deportees. Alongside the $7.5 million for public services tied to the migrants, the U.S. will provide Palau with an additional $6 million for its civil service pension plan and $2 million for new law enforcement initiatives. Palau joins a growing list of countries, including Uganda, Rwanda, and several in Central America, that have agreed to similar arrangements. As the administration urges more immigrants to self-deport, these distant agreements are redrawing the map of U.S. immigration enforcement, turning strategic foreign aid into a direct tool for offshore migrant placement.