Pacific nations Tonga, Vanuatu and Tuvalu face sweeping US travel bans — and it's not clear why

Utah-based immigration lawyer Laura Lui doesn't see how Tonga — with a population of 100,000 — could be a threat to the United States.
So she was baffled to see her home country on a list of 36 nations the Trump administration is reportedly considering adding to a sweeping travel ban.
"We are a small country [that] doesn't have a lot of natural resources," she said.
Along with citizens from two other Pacific countries, Vanuatu and Tuvalu, Tongans could soon be barred from entering the US, according to a Washington Post report citing a US State Department memo.
In Tonga — with its large diasporas in Utah, Hawai'i and San Francisco — that could pose problems for families hoping to visit US-based relatives on religious or cultural occasions, or to provide support.
"People have flown from the US to Tonga to help their families resettle in Tonga, and vice versa, to provide family support in times of strain and in need, whether they've just moved or someone is sick or needs some extra help and care," Henrietta McNeill, a researcher at the Australian National University's Department of Pacific Affairs, said.
"[A ban] will really affect communities and families in particular, [who will be] separated from one another."
Pacific Islanders in Utah say the Trump administration's immigration crackdown has already raised anxiety levels within the diaspora.
Now, those living in the US and abroad are asking why Pacific Island nations were included on the reported travel ban list.
The US State Department on Tuesday said travel bans were a national security measure, and the Trump administration was considering restrictions for countries based on their security capabilities, rates of visa overstaying, and failure to repatriate nationals.
Tonga's foreign minister is in talks with the country's US-based officials, while the Vanuatu government said it is yet to learn the reasons it was included on the list.
Meanwhile, observers say a travel ban wouldn't just hurt Pacific Island countries, but also risks damaging US efforts to grow its influence in the increasingly contested region.
The Pacific countries joined 25 African nations — including significant regional US partner Egypt — and countries from the Caribbean and Central Asia reported to be facing travel bans.
Earlier this month, travel restrictions on nationals from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran and Yemen, came into effect, while there are partial restrictions on a further seven countries.
US President Donald Trump said other nations could be added to the list as "threats emerge around the world".
The 36 countries reportedly have 60 days to meet requirements set by the State Department.
Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told a press briefing on Tuesday that it would provide "a period of time" for the countries to meet the benchmarks.
"The visa adjudication process has got to ensure that US-bound foreign travellers do not pose a threat to the national security and public safety of the United States," she said.
Ms Bruce said the US was assessing countries' security capabilities, information sharing, and identity management practices in deciding on travel bans.
"These are about very specific aspects about whether or not the United States feels it can trust the information we rely on those countries for, to determine whether or not they'll get a visa."
While the Trump administration is yet to say why the Pacific Island nations have specifically been marked for a potential travel ban, the European Union and the United Kingdom recently removed Vanuatu's visa-free status over its scandal-plagued citizenship-by-investment, or "golden passports", scheme.
Reports of visa-overstaying by some Tongans in the US may have also motivated the decision to include it on the list.
Vanuatu's Internal Affairs Minister, Andrew Solomon Napuat, said its government learned of the proposed ban through media reports and was seeking more information from the local US embassy.
"Until we see the memo, we do not yet know what are the specific reasons particularly for Vanuatu [being listed]," he said.
"[When] we see the reasons for considering the travel ban, we would then make up our opinion whether the travel ban is fair."
Mr Napuat said Vanuatu wanted to maintain a good relationship with the US — something the country's Prime Minister Jotham Napat emphasised in his inaugural speech in February.
"It is something that we are working on, and these issues that come up in this relationship that Vanuatu has with the US, we believe that we will find a space and time to have a mutual discussion."
Tonga's Prime Minister 'Aisake Eke told the nation's parliament this week that its foreign minister, Crown Prince Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala, was talking to Tonga's US Consul about the proposed travel ban.
The ABC approached Tuvalu's government for comment.
Reports of the proposed travel ban have raised outcry among Tongans in the US and abroad, who say their country is being unfairly targeted.
Stephanie Mahina, a Utah-based Tongan-American radio host, told ABC Pacific's Nesia Daily program the ban was intended as a "distraction" from other Trump administration policies.
"And this is just another power play move by a president who doesn't actually care about the people that he's supposed to be serving."
Malaki Koloamatangi, a scholar in Pacific politics and registrar at Tonga National University, said Tonga's inclusion on the ban list seemed "racist".
"It is a discriminatory move by the Trump administration to include not only Tonga but also other [Pacific] islands, because we're not huge populations," he said.
"If the idea is to ensure that the US doesn't suffer from immigration from other countries, then surely you would put the ban on visitors from bigger countries."
Ms Bruce, the US State Department official, said the Trump administration was not considering the location of countries when deciding on imposing travel bans.
A travel ban could also undermine Vanuatu's efforts to grow kava imports into the US, and reduce the value of its passports sold through its citizenship-by-investment scheme, Dr McNeill said.
But Dr Koloamatangi said the US also stood to lose if it went ahead with travel bans on the Pacific countries, having recently made efforts to re-engage with the region by reopening embassies.
"Politically speaking, this will not help the case of the US with the Pacific Islands, when they're trying to attract support and have influence," he said.
"It'll just push the Pacific towards the north, towards China and other Asian countries.
"I'm not sure what Trump is trying to achieve here."

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