Overview
- Palau’s minister of state Gustav Aitaro and U.S. Ambassador Joel Ehrendreich signed the memorandum on Christmas Eve following a call between President Surangel Whipps Jr. and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.
- The arrangement covers up to 75 people who have not been charged with crimes, allowing them to live and work in Palau to help address labor shortages, with each case reviewed by Palau’s national working group.
- Washington granted $7.5 million for public services and infrastructure, with additional commitments reported of $6 million for Palau’s civil service pension reforms and $2 million for law enforcement initiatives.
- Implementation faces legal uncertainty as a U.S. federal judge signaled readiness to scrutinize rapid third-country removals that lack meaningful notice and a chance to raise persecution or torture concerns.
- Palau, a small Pacific nation in a Compact of Free Association with the U.S. and not party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, had earlier hesitated over capacity and the absence of formal asylum systems.