Eighteen Marshallese citizens who had been legally residing in Arkansas, California, Washington and Hawaii were deported back to the Republic of the Marshall Islands on June 10, according to a press release issued by the Republic of the Marshall Islands Office of National Security .

Their expulsion is the first large-scale deportation of Marshallese by the Trump administration. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents escorted the 18 Marshallese citizens on a U.S. C-130 military aircraft flight that landed on Majuro Atoll.

The 18 people returned to the Marshall Islands were convicted of offenses ranging from “petty to serious,” according to the press release, with no further details. A Freedom of Information request to U.S. Customs and Immigration seeking the identities, states

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