March 7, 2024
Majuro, Marshall Islands
President Hilda Heine publicly announced the formation of the Deportation Taskforce in Parliament last Monday, March 4.
The President’s announcement came in the wake of Marshallese citizens facing potential deportation from the US following recent and growing ICE activities in Springdale, Arkansas the past few months.
Since President Heine came to power at the beginning of the year, her administration has made deportation a priority. Earlier in the year, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Kalani Kaneko said the government will be tackling the deportation issue and that the administration will prioritize working with its US counterparts on the matter. Kalani also announced he would send a diplomatic note to the US Embassy in Majuro to start engaging on deportation issues.
The new Taskforce would also lay out standard operating procedure, which the RMI has none despite having deported individuals in past years.
Current decorations include a note to the Marshall Islands Immigration office notifying individual drop offs. The US officers escorting the deportees would arrive with the deportee, sign a release document and done. The individual would literally be set free after the handover at the airport.
This is where the Heine administration plans to fill the gap and to establish a system in place that would benefit both the deported individual and the community at large.
Deportation as a whole has been a nuisance to the community, especially the private sector. Government and private companies have no way of knowing of the individuals’ background during the hiring phase and, in some cases, have hired deported individuals that would later cause problems. There has been incidents in the past where business owners realized the individual as a deportee only after filing cases against them. And this is so because only the Immigration office and relevant enforcement office have access to the deportee list.
On Kwajalein Atoll, on the other hand, is the US Army Garrison — Kwajalein Atoll, a US Army base. The garrison keeps tabs on all deportees entering the islands for security and hiring purposes. Individuals with deportation backgrounds are barred from entering the base. Deported individuals traveling to Ebeye are escorted from the airport terminal to the check point dock. The same process applies when barred individuals are flying out of the Kwajalein base to Majuro or other destinations.
Chairing the Deportation Taskforce is Ebon Senator Marie Davis-Milne. The freshman senator is known for her activism among the Marshallese community. Prior to becoming a member of Parliament, Marie was the mayor for Ebon Atoll. Since taking office this year, Marie has been a powerful and influential voice in Nitijela, the nation’s Parliament.
