For the past 15 years, Marshall Islanders have been deported from the United States at an annual rate of 16 per year, according to government data.
But the numbers increased dramatically from 2011.
The larger numbers also coincide with ongoing heavy out-migration to the United States that has seen an average of over 1,000 islanders leaving to the U.S. annually since the late 1990s.
More than 30,000 Marshall Islanders are estimated to be living in the U.S.