12/01/2026
Guam AG and ICE to Ramp Up Deportations
By Troy Torres, Kandit News
The Attorney General of Guam has partnered with the federal government on a deportation program he says will save taxpayers $4 million a year, and bring untold value in public safety. The program is meant to reflect Trump administration activities that are targeting, rounding up, and removing non-U.S. citizens who have been convicted of committing violent crimes. And according to Douglas Moylan, most of the non-U.S. citizens who are deportable are Chuukese. His goal through the program, he said, is to remove as many criminals from Guam as possible.
"When you have a safe community, you have kids who can go to school without having problems," Mr. Moylan said. "You have family members who can go into a parking lot without fear of being assaulted, murdered, r***d, you name it... robbed."
Whether the program also will lead to the racial profiling, civil rights violations, Fourth Amendment infringements, wrongful detainments, and police brutality that has erupted over the past year of open immigration enforcement is yet to be seen. Mr. Moylan, in a news conference Monday morning alongside Rodney Sayama of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement division, announced the deputizing of Office of the Attorney General investigators to work under ICE to "identify, detain, and remove" those qualified for deportation. Mr. Moylan, while stating that the data points to a problem among Chuukese offenders, said there would be no racial profiling and commended the Trump administration's policies.
Since the public spectacle of President Trump's mass deportation program began early last year, Guam has been spared the hysteria of indiscriminate ICE raids tearing apart other American communities. Despite the White House hype and the media coverage, however, data from DHS shows that the estimated deportations in Mr. Trump's first year back in office - while greater than any year of his first term - are significantly lower than in President Biden's last two years on the job. According to a CATO Institute chart of ICE records for the period October 1 through November 15, 2025, people booked into ICE custody who were convicted of violent crimes account for only five percent of the pie.
Mr. Moylan last year reached out to the Trump administration asking for assistance from ICE in deporting non-U.S. citizens convicted of violent crimes. The OAG and ICE have since signed a memorandum of understanding under Section 287g of the Immigration and Nationality Act, where Congress authorized ICE to deputize local law enforcement to carry out immigration activities.
According to the statute, once deputized and under the supervision of ICE, the AG investigators will be able to screen people already in custody (in jail or prison, for example) and initiate and see through their deportation. "Our direction will come from Agent Sayama and his team," Mr. Moylan said, adding his investigators will help with arresting and helping to draft charges, along with whatever orders they receive from ICE.
The attorney general described this authorization as benefiting judicial economy, saying that the deportation of violent offenders already in custody will free up significant space at the Department of Corrections, untie significant resources throughout the criminal justice system, and save taxpayers $3 million annually. That is on top of the $1 million taxpayers now are saving because of the 110 people deported through his efforts since January 2023, when his administration began, he said.
Some of those people, he said, were under detention or otherwise awaiting trial in violent crime cases and voluntarily "deported" themselves. "We get the bench warrants and if they try to come back, they're arrested right there at the airport," the attorney general said.
The authority for ICE to deport non-U.S. citizens convicted of certain crimes has not changed, however, and Mr. Moylan has been successful in using his office to abet federal deportation. The issue, the attorney general said, is not that ICE lacks the resources to deport more people, but that the OAG wishes to ramp up deportations in order to prevent future crimes.
"There's a group of non-U.S. citizens," Mr. Moylan said. "Court calendars are full of non-U.S. citizens. And the problem is the repeat offenders are becoming m**h addicts. Non-U.S. citizens have moved from alcohol to m**h. It has created a repeat criminal. It's the Chuukese that have filled the court dockets. What is the problem with Chuuk? They are not as educated as the other islands of the FSM."
Mr. Moylan said a long term solution should be for the U.S. to invest in schools in Chuuk that assimilate students into "Western culture."
"But in the meantime," he said, "we have to deal with the fallout. It's like the Native Americans. As the U.S. was exercising the Monroe Doctrine, the problem was the Native Americans."
[Editor's note: The Monroe Doctrine was an 1823 foreign policy created by President James Monroe that essentially declared that Europe could no longer colonize or become involved in affairs of the Western hemisphere (North and South America) without American permission. It is likely Mr. Moylan meant Manifest Destiny, which was the justification used by the American government to conquer Native American tribes and take their lands]
What is likely to cause greater community attention is the authority Section 287g provides for the deputized investigators to carry out raids and other enforcement activities similar to what has been happening stateside. These can include surveillance and traffic stops, as examples. Mr. Moylan confirmed his investigators will be participating in these activities.
According to the ICE website, the division has at least one active agreement with jurisdictions inside 39 states. ICE is pursuing agreements inside Hawaii, Delaware, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Maine. It is prohibited by the laws of California, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, Connecticut, and New Jersey from entering into agreements in those states.
No other U.S. territory but Guam has an active agreement, according to the ICE website.
It is important to note that under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2), the Deportable Alien statute, a person can only be deported upon the ex*****on of a removal warrant by an immigration court. In most cases, there must be a finding that the non-U.S. citizen being deported has been convicted of a certain type of violent crime or crime or moral turpitude. HOWEVER, ICE has the authority to investigate and detain noncitizens after an arrest, but that is not supposed to be an automatic trigger for removal.
The National Immigrant Justice Center provides the following advice:
1. Create a safety plan
Identify your emergency contacts and memorize their phone numbers.
Provide your child’s school or day care with an emergency contact to pick up your child.
Provide authorization in writing for your emergency contact to make medical and legal decisions for your child.
Tell your loved ones that if you are detained by ICE, they can try to use ICE’s online detainee locator to find you: [link provided in Kandit website version of this story]
Read more about guardianship considerations.
2. Defend your rights
All persons in the United States have constitutional protections, including the right to remain silent when questioned or arrested by immigration officers. Being stopped by immigration officers or other law enforcement can be frightening, but it’s important to stay calm. During any encounter with law enforcement, it’s important to do the following:
Stay calm and don’t run, argue, resist, or fight the officer, even if you believe your rights are being violated or you are being treated unfairly. Keep your hands where police can see them, and tell them if you need to reach into a glove compartment or for a wallet to show your papers.
Don’t lie about your status or provide false documents.
If you are pulled over in a traffic stop: Ask if the officer is from the police department or immigration. Immigration officers often identify themselves as “police,” but they are not police. Ask if they are from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP). If they are immigration officers, follow these guidelines about what information to provide.
If you are a U.S. citizen or have lawful immigration status: Show your passport, legal permanent resident card, work permit, or other documentation of your status. If you are over the age of 18, you should carry your papers with you at all times.
If you are undocumented: You have the right to remain silent and do not have to discuss your immigration or citizenship status with the police, immigration agents, or other officials. Anything you tell an officer can later be used against you in immigration court.
If an officer knocks on your door: Do not open the door. Teach your children not to open the door. Officers must have a warrant signed by a judge to enter your home. ICE “warrants” are not signed by judges; they are ICE forms signed by ICE officers and they do not grant authority to enter a home without consent of the occupant(s).
If you are outdoors and think you see immigration officers nearby:
Move to a safe indoor space
If you are a U.S. citizen and feel safe to do so, record the activity with your phone or write down any relevant information about what you witness—ALWAYS being careful to not interfere or otherwise obstruct the operation
DO NOT:
Post unverified information on social media
Interfere with the investigation or otherwise put yourself in harm’s way
