ABOUT 353 Fijians have final orders of removal as per the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) non-detained docket.
This has been outlined in a breakdown of non-US residents who have final removal orders – by country – provided by ICE to Fox News last November.
At the time, there were 1.4 million non-citizens in the US. Now, these Fijian nationals may be returning to Fiji as the deportation of illegal immigrants gains momentum in the US.
The Trump administration has maintained all illegal immigrants who broke US laws to stay in the country are criminals.
Yesterday, Defence Minister Pio Tikoduadua said in terms of people being repatriated, that was a matter in which Foreign Affairs took the lead.
He said Fiji and its partner law agencies did share information and they would be aware if Fijian citizens – especially those who were being deported – had engaged in any illicit acts.
“If someone has already registered in the US justice system as a drug offender, we will know this person,” he said.
“We have networks that share information, but it will be nice if the Americans tell us if they are putting them on the plane to come here.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad said they were following the developments.
“Yes, there are 353 Fijians on the list, but we are still not sure if they are being deported or not,” he said.
“So, it’s premature to talk about repatriation and costs to the Government.”
The list pegs Fiji as having the highest number of non-citizens – from the Pacific – with final orders of removal.
The other Pacific nationals on the list are: Australia (261), French Polynesia (two), Kiribati (three), Marshall Islands (39), Federated States of Micronesia (72), New Zealand (166), Palau (eight), Papua New Guinea (five), Samoa (57), Solomon Islands (three), Tonga (151), Tuvalu (one) and Vanuatu (one).
