Tiny ‘Survivor’ Island with 18K Population to Welcome Trump’s Deportees — for $7.5 Million

WASHINGTON — The tiny Pacific nation of Palau — a former filming location for “Survivor” — has agreed to take up to 75 third-country deportees from the United States who don’t have a criminal record — in exchange for a $7.5 million grant to support the roughly 18,000-person island chain.

The $100,000 per-deportee fee, announced on Christmas Eve by Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr. and the US embassy in Koror, introduces one of the most favorable venues yet for deportees if their recalcitrant homelands — such as China, Cuba, Russia, or Iran — won’t take them.

“Palau and the United States signed a Memorandum of Understanding allowing up to 75 third-country nationals, who have never been charged with a crime, to live and work in Palau, helping address local labor shortages in needed occupations,” the country’s president said in a statement.

President Trump’s administration will be sending 75 deportees to the Pacific island nation of Palau. REUTERS

“In connection with this arrangement, the United States granted $7.5 million to help Palau meet related public service and infrastructure needs, while both countries continue close cooperation on immigration and security matters.”

The US embassy said, “The United States deeply appreciates Palau’s cooperation in enforcing U.S. immigration laws, which remains a top priority for the Trump Administration.”

In addition to the new $7.5 million grant, the Trump administration agreed to provide $6 million “to prevent collapse of [Palau’s] civil service pension plan system” and $2 million for “new law enforcement initiatives.”

Palau, whose main industries include tourism and fishing, already was due $889 million in US aid over 20 years — or $44.45 million per year — under an agreement brokered by the Biden administration that took effect last year.

Those funds were intended to bankroll the country’s “education, health, environment, administration of justice, public safety, and audits.”

Palau, located east of the Philippines and a two-hour flight from Guam, was formerly governed by the United States, which conquered the islands from Japan after the bloody battle of Peleliu in 1944, which claimed 1,544 American lives as Japanese troops fought to the death from mountain hideouts.

Palau’s main city of Koror is home to most of the county’s 18,000 people. © Amos Nachoum/CORBIS

In the late 1970s, then-President Jimmy Carter spearheaded the process to grant Palau — along with nearby Micronesia and the Marshall Islands — independence from the United States. Carter similarly returned the Panama Canal Zone, controlled by the US since 1903, to the nation of Panama.

Thus far, Palau, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands have escaped President Trump’s expansionist ambitions, which include reclaiming the Panama Canal and annexing Greenland.

In 2005, the sparsely populated republic gained pop-culture relevance as the location of the 10th season of “Survivor,” which was won by New York City firefighter Tom Westman.

Palau is heavily dependent on foreign aid — accounting for 12% of its GDP — and also has garnered support from Taiwan and Japan, which controlled Palau following World War I when most German-colonized Pacific islands were regrouped as a United Nations trusteeship.

The country recognizes Oct. 1, 1994, as its independence day, when its compact of free association agreement with the US took effect.

Although it is a member of the United Nations, Palau uses the US dollar, and its citizens are entitled to freely travel, work, and receive federal benefits inside the United States.

The US Postal Service delivers mail, the US military is in charge of defense, and English is a co-official language.

Palau was the filming location for the 10th season of “Survivor,” which aired in 2005. CBS

Former Brooklyn firefighter Tom Westman won the $1 million grant prize. CBS

Many other cash-strapped countries are taking non-citizens in support of Trump’s mass-deportation initiative, which also has induced illegal immigrants to self-deport for between $1,000 and $3,000 and a free one-way ticket to cut down on the average cost of $17,121 to arrest, detain, and deport them.

The Trump administration recently agreed to pay Equatorial Guinea, the oil-rich yet poverty-stricken African kleptocracy, $7.5 million to take an unknown number of deportees.

El Salvador in March placed 238 deported alleged gang members in a high-security prison for $6 million — or $25,000 apiece — and seven were dropped off in war-torn South Sudan in July, including perps from Burma, Cuba, Laos, Mexico, and Vietnam.

Rwanda received $100,000 to take a single Iraqi man, with Kigali agreeing in August to take another 250.

The Trump administration previously inked deals with Uganda and Honduras to take in third-country immigrants without criminal convictions — with those deals specifying Uganda would accept fellow Africans and Honduras would take 200 Spanish speakers from elsewhere.

nypost.com | By Steven Nelson | Published Dec. 26, 2025, 1:06 p.m. ET

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Registration Requirement to Take Effect April 11, 2025

The new immigration rule will take effect on April 11, 2025. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published an Interim Final Rule (IFR) requiring non-citizens who remain in the U.S. for 30 days or more and were not previously registered to register and be fingerprinted.

Individuals who are considered already registered include: Individuals issued immigrant or nonimmigrant visas before their last date of arrival

• Individuals admitted to the United States as nonimmigrants who were issued Form I-94 or I-94W (paper or electronic)

• Lawful permanent residents

• Individuals issued an employment authorization document

• Individuals paroled into the United States

• Individuals placed into removal proceedings

• Individuals who have applied for lawful permanent residence using Forms I-485, I-687, I-691, I-698, I-700, and provided fingerprints, even if the applications were denied

• Individuals issued Border Crossing Cards

Alien Registration Form and Evidence of Registration

A Rule by the Homeland Security Department on 03/12/2025

READ

Diplomats and officials with A and G visa status, as well as certain American Indians born in Canada, are exempt from the registration requirement.

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USCIS has published additional information about the registration requirement.

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Each individual not already considered registered must create their own USCIS Online Account. Non-citizen children under the age of 14 must apply to register and be fingerprinted (unless waived) within 30 days of their fourteenth birthday. Children under the age of 14 must be registered by their parents/guardians. And also create an online account on their child’s behalf, in their child’s name. Once the USCIS online account is created, the registrant must complete G-325R.

Canadian visitors who enter the U.S. at a land port of entry and were not issued Form I-94 at admission will be required to register if they remain in the U.S. for 30 days or longer.

Canadians require a visa to enter the US

“U.S. immigration lawyer Len Saunders says the U.S. enforcing a visitor registration law for Canadians is ‘disastrous’ because most won’t know about it and could face arrest.”

— New U.S. immigration rules for Canadians ‘disastrous,’ says lawyer | Hanomansing Tonight

An individual who deliberately fails or refuses to apply for registration or to be fingerprinted may face a fine of up to $5,000, imprisonment for up to six months, or both. Failing to carry proof of registration at all times or to report a change of address can result in a fine of up to $5,000, imprisonment for up to 30 days, or both. Furthermore, an individual who does not comply with the requirement to report a change of address may be subject to deportation unless the failure to report was not willful or was reasonably justified.

The same applies to the parents or guardians of those under the age of 14 who fail to comply. Those who are 18 years or older are required to carry proof of their registration and fingerprinting at all times. Failure to do so may result in a misdemeanor charge, which could incur a fine of up to $5,000, imprisonment for no more than 30 days, or both. This constitutes a criminal offense.

Theo Edwards for YAME Digital

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“UPDATE: US lawmakers have introduced a draft bill proposing a 5 percent excise tax on all remittances sent abroad. This proposal could significantly impact African countries that rely heavily on funds from their diaspora.”

— Source: May 14, 2025

US lawmakers have introduced a draft bill proposing a 5 percent excise tax on all remittances sent abroad. This proposal could significantly impact African countries that rely heavily on funds from their diaspora. The bill, presented by House Republicans, specifies that the sender will be responsible for paying the tax, which will be collected quarterly by the US Treasury Department. This initiative is part of a series of stringent measures implemented under President Donald Trump's administration, which has recently intensified its immigration and trade policies. #DWAfrica

For more information on the "GOP Proposal to Tax Remittances," please refer to the key facts.

Diaspora-Dependent Economies at Risk

The proposed remittance tax has triggered alarm among African experts and governments, where diaspora remittances serve as a lifeline for millions of families. In countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Ethiopia, remittances account for a significant portion of GDP, often surpassing foreign direct investment and aid flows.

Policy in Line with Trump’s Tougher Agenda

The remittance tax proposal reflects a continuing trend under the Trump administration toward stricter border control, immigration limits, and transactional foreign policy. It comes on the heels of recent crackdowns on asylum seekers, expanded visa restrictions, and tariff-driven trade negotiations.

“Whether you’re living in the U.S. on a visa, waiting for permanent residency, or undocumented, savings, bank accounts, and retirement funds could be at serious risk if deportation becomes a reality.”

— Source: Watch the eye-opening video: 'What Happens to Your Assets and Savings If You Face Deportation?'