Tiny Pacific Island Strikes Lucrative Deal to House U.S. Deportees

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: MEDIAite

Dec 27th, 2025, 12:49 pm


The small Pacific Island nation of Palau struck a $7.5 million deal with President Donald Trump’s administration in exchange for taking in up to 75 deportees from the U.S. A “memo of understanding” was signed on Wednesday following a call between Palau President Surangel S. Whipps, Jr. and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau to discuss the details of the agreement and “the challenges both nations face and how they are working together,” according to a statement from Whipps’s office.

“The discussion included several new initiatives that help both our nations move forward,” the statement said. “Palau welcomed U.S. commitments that deepen a long standing partnership and deliver concrete benefits for Palauan people in health care, security, pensions, disaster resilience, and labor. Together, Palau and the United States also reaffirmed a shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific that protects both nations’ prosperity and security.”

This statement affirms that “75 third country nationals, who have never been charged with a crime” can live and work in Palau, which has an estimated population of 17,700, to help address local labor shortages. A $7.5 million grant from the U.S. in exchange will allow Palau to meet “related public service and infrastructure needs, while both countries continue close cooperation on immigration and security matters.”

The island nation’s new role in accepting third country nationals comes amid a large push by the Trump administration to crack down on illegal immigration and increase deportation numbers.

Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/tiny-pacific-island-strikes-lucrative-deal-to-house-u-s-deportees/

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[SunSeeker]

1. "Palau and the United States also reaffirmed a shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific"

Yeah, nothing says "free" like forced confinement on a remote island.

[2na fisherman]

2. Whipps And Chains

Palau will never see a dime of that money. So its President is willing to turn his country into a penal colony for a phony promise by Trump.

[NJCher]

4. can't find that he's stiffed anybody on this

I did a search.

My opinion: He's paying them with the money that would have gone to cover insurance subsidies under ACA. Yes, that is where our tax money is going instead of to the needs of our fellow citizens.

[IronLionZion]

5. He's giving our tax dollars to other countries because America First

I'm sure they found some money from screwing Americans out of healthcare subsidies, food assistance, education assistance, and other social programs.

[PatrickforB]

3. Hmm. Shades if Reinhardt Heydrich talking about how the Nazis first planned to give the Jews

Madigascar. How enlightened of them!

If sanity ever is regained here in Murika, we'd better sure as hell have some CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY trials. Because these Nazi fucks in Trump's administration and the GOP, and now the new SS-ICE, are in fact committing crimes agains humanity.

And what about the fucking Epstein files? When the hell are we going to get some justice for all these children whose lives have been ruined by these billionaire fucks?

These are people you wouldn't even let in your house because they would steal whatever is not nailed down and commit horrible crimes against the kids and grandkids. We're going to have to FUMIGATE the White House after these pieces of excrement are kicked out.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. "we'd better sure as hell have some CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY trials."

That will probably never happen because like clockwork, each GOP regime manages to cause some kind of economic calamity so bad that the incoming Democratic administration has to spend all of their time and resources on fixing that, and when that is FINALLY resolved, it's time for the next election.

[PatrickforB]

8. Yes, that has for sure been the pattern, but Trump has really caused a lot of damage. And people are going to

start suffering fairly soon in a more general sense. So far it has been the construction sector, hospitality, agriculture and manufacturing, but we're about to see a big AI bust that will be affecting many white collar erstwhile Republican voters and they will sour on the whole Chicago school trickle down thing...well, at least one might hope.

As an economist, I have spent decades touting policies that will strengthen the middle class and have seen them all go by the wayside because of these greedy Wall Street lizards and the billionaire parasites.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. You'll notice that the billionaires

have spent decades trying to get "cheap labor". And that lead to "outsourcing" and eventually "offshoring", while using all sorts of Visa tricks to bring in immigrant labor in order to continue to do things that avoided a union's push for fair wages.

But now with the spigot closed for foreign labor, the next step for them was obviously "fake labor" (AI). Basically a high "upfront" cost but then "free" after that once deployed. Or so they fantasize.

[Cherokee100]

7. Can we say

Can we say 'slave labor'?

[ninjanurse]

10. Exile

So he’s sending people who have no crime except lacking papers to a remote island, far from family and all they know. With limited ability to get to another country where they have more connections.

[the nelm]

11. Palau is a nation of 325 plus islands, some 12 of which are inhabited. One of those islands...

is Peleliu where a rather bloody battle was fought by U.S. forces against the Japanese in 1944. A former acquaintance of mine and his father went there some 35 odd years ago and did a bit of exploring. They came back home with a number of bones they found in caves. The acquaintance was rather proud of himself and liked to show off some of said bones to others, me included. They were of Japanese war dead. Like I said, former acquaintance.

That said, none of that reflects on the people of Palau. They were victims of that war too. Sending "deportees" there is likely safer than some of the other destinations that have been mentioned, but talk about sending these people to literally the middle of nowhere? No due process, nowhere or way to challenge their deportation? No reasonable access to family? Are we the 18th/19th century British monarchy deporting the "undesirables" to Australia now? What the ever-loving hell?

[skypilot]

12. Does this sound like...

...human trafficking to anyone else?

[popsdenver]

13. Maybe Trump is paving the way

to set up another Epstein's Island when he is run out of the country/???????????

[electric_blue68]

16. Woah! Really?!

[mahina]

32. No I was wrong about this.

I should’ve stayed asleep. It was really early in the morning here and I was very mistaken.

[obamanut2012]

25. Link?

[mahina]

31. Oh boy I was very wrong.

[electric_blue68]

15. I can't believe I guessed it was Palau!

The only reason I know about this place is decades ago one of my longtime friend's friend became a hotel manager there.

[LisaM]

17. $1,000,000 per person?

That doesn't seem very efficient.

[Simeon Salus]

22. $100,000 is even less efficient.

7.5 mil /75=.1 mil

[LisaM]

24. Ah, thanks.

I must have misread it.

[Simeon Salus]

28. But even 75 million is an incredibly tiny amount of money to take life-long responsibility for 75 non-residents

This is far, far away from U.S. District Courts, where any irresponsibility could be assessed on the merits.

It's the modern equivalent of marooning them on a desert island for life, with zero chance of oversight.

[BidenRocks]

18. Exactly what is

A “memo of understanding”?

Is that another term for a Treaty?

I also question the legality of "Deals". Is that a legally binding thing in American law?

So many things being rebranded. Zero authority overreach.

[BumRushDaShow]

23. "Exactly what is... A "memo of understanding"? Is that another term for a Treaty?"

In the fed world, we abbreviated (and "sounded it out" as ) "MOU".

It basically is an "agreement" between 2 entities (could be between 2 states or between a state agency and a federal agency, etc), where the 2 will define some kind of partnership between them, will designate what roles each party will play, and what processes and/or procedures will be necessary for both sides to agree to and follow, to enact the MOU.

It basically formalizes what would be roles that were originally done independently and will now be shared, with expectations spelled out for what each side would be responsible for. But it is not a treaty nor a formal business contract (both of those being legally binding).

[onenote]

29. Palau has not been added to a no-travel list. Tonga and Palau are not the same place.

Not sure why you've twice posted that Palau has been added to the travel ban when its not true.

Here is the order that added Tonga, among other countries, to the restricted travel list. You will not find any mention of Palau.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/12/restricting-and-limiting-the-entry-of-foreign-nationals-to-protect-the-security-of-the-united-states/

[mahina]

30. You are 100% right. It was four in the morning here and I was cross eyed should've stayed off my phone.

Thank you

[area51]

26. $7.5 million on this,

but no money available for universal healthcare.

[markodochartaigh]

27. Far less than that,

no money to even extend ACA subsidies.