{"id":482930,"date":"2025-12-31T18:11:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T18:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/482930\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T18:11:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T18:11:21","slug":"tonga-is-not-a-threat-anger-as-small-pacific-nation-falls-under-trump-visa-restrictions-tonga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/482930\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Tonga is not a threat\u2019: anger as small Pacific nation falls under Trump visa restrictions | Tonga"},"content":{"rendered":"

The small Pacific nation of Tonga is one of more than a dozen countries to be hit with visa and entry restrictions on 1 January as the Trump administration<\/a> tightens its crackdown on immigration.<\/p>\n

In December<\/a>, the US said it would further restrict and limit the entry of foreign nationals to protect the country from \u201cnational security and public safety threats\u201d.<\/p>\n

The measures included expanding the US travel ban<\/a> to bar nationals from five more countries: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria.<\/p>\n

The US also issued \u201cpartial restrictions and entry limitations\u201d on 15 additional countries: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d\u2019Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, the Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga<\/a>, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Despite the restrictions being categorised as \u201cpartial\u201d, visas will only be issued in a handful of exceptional circumstances \u2013 to US government employees, for example.<\/p>\n

Tonga \u2013 population 100,000 \u2013 is the only Pacific island country included in the list. The White House said the restrictions were justified by a high rate of Tongans overstaying their visas \u2013 more than 14% for some visa categories, the US government said.<\/p>\n

The US holds the largest number of diaspora Tongans, estimated at about 70,000. Most are in San Francisco, California, and Salt Lake City, Utah. Altogether, there are about 150,000 Tongans outside Tonga.<\/p>\n

The ban has been met with anger and concern, with many questioning the justification. \u201cTongans are not a threat to US security,\u201d said Dr Tevita Kaili, a Tongan professor at Brigham Young University, Hawaii.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Tongan government sent troops to both Iraq and Afghanistan to support US security. In the United Nations, the majority of the Tongan government\u2019s votes align with the US.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe claim that the US is protecting its security by restricting Tongans from travelling to the US is unfounded.\u201d<\/p>\n

The restrictions do not only affect those wishing to travel to the US, but also Tongans already on work or student visas in the US, who do not wish to travel home as they may not be able to return. Kaili expressed concern that at graduation ceremonies, no parents or relatives would be able to travel to the US to celebrate with their children.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be sad to see a decline in the number of Tongan students at my university in January 2026 due to the travel restrictions. Currently, Tongans constitute the second-largest international student population at my university,\u201d Kaili said.<\/p>\n

Senator Jarrett Keohokalole from Hawaii was also critical. \u201cI strongly denounce the inclusion of Tonga on this list. Singling out Tonga is unjustified and deeply offensive to the people of Hawaii, where Polynesian identity is foundational.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision disproportionately harmed Pacific island communities and reflected a broader pattern of immigration policies targeting communities of colour, Keohokalole said.<\/p>\n

He cited Hawaii\u2019s longstanding genealogical, cultural and family connections with Tonga and the broader Pacific, with many residents maintaining close ties to relatives overseas. Adding Tonga to the federal travel ban unfairly singled out Pacific island communities and sent an alarming message to Polynesians both abroad and in Hawaii, Keohokalole said.<\/p>\n

Melino Maka, a Tongan community leader in New Zealand, echoed the concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that our family members have made the US their home for many generations but right now with what this current administration does not see us worthy, those connections are based on the colour of our skin. For my money I\u2019d rather work on the current relationship with China rather than chasing this road to nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The small Pacific nation of Tonga is one of more than a dozen countries to be hit with…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":482931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[50,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-482930","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115815532743561780","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}