Palau to now welcome Trump's deportees — for $7.5 million: All about the tiny ‘Survivor' island

The tiny Pacific nation of Palau reportedly agreed to take up to 75 third-country deportees from the US who don’t have a criminal record — in exchange for a $7.5 million grant to support the roughly 18,000-person island chain.

According to the New York Post, Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr. and the US embassy in Koror had announced the $100,000 per-deportee fee on Christmas Eve.

“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 labour shortages in needed occupations,” the country’s president said in a statement.

"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 Palau President said.

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 in Palau.”

All about Palau

Palau, located east of the Philippines, was formerly governed by the United States, which conquered the islands from Japan after the bloody battle of Peleliu in 1944.

The battle had claimed 1,544 American lives as Japanese troops fought to the death from mountain hideouts.

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, which had been 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, The New York Post reported.

Palau recognises October 1, 1994, as its independence day. 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.

In 2005, Palau — 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.