For Tongan students at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, the start of the new semester has come with the usual stressors — adjusting to new schedules, new professors and new roommates.
Also, navigating a brand-new, U.S.-imposed travel ban.
Starting Jan. 1, their home country, a majority Latter-day Saint nation located in the South Pacific, has joined the ever-growing list of those places whose citizens are barred, with a few exceptions, from entering the United States.
The policy does not impact those already in the U.S. with a valid visa. This means Tongan students currently attending the school owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not subject to deportation.
(J. Matt | Special to The Tribune) The campus of BYU-Hawaii in 2022.
As long as the ban remains in place, however, no new Tongan students will be permitted to arrive and those currently attending BYU-Hawaii can no longer go back and forth between home and Oahu, where the school is located. Families of students are likewise barred, including for events like graduations.
Those with U.S. citizenship are not subject to the new rules.
Earlier this month, the State Department announced that Tongan citizens (as well as those from dozens of other countries) can post a $15,000 visa bond reimbursed upon their return to the island — as long as they return to their country within 30 days. This does not apply to student visas.
BYU-Hawaii did not respond to multiple requests for comment, including a question about how many of its nearly 3,000 students are from Tonga. The university’s website lists the island country second among the top 10 nations represented within its student body, just after the Philippines.
“I have been teaching Tongan students…at BYU-Hawaii for 20 years,” Tongan anthropology professor Tevita Ka’ili wrote on Facebook. “I am deeply concerned about the negative impacts of the current travel restrictions on my Tongan students, both those studying now and those in the future.”
Why Tonga was included
The December news release announcing the ban included restrictions on countries across the world, the majority located in Africa or the Middle East. Issued by the White House, the notice explained the curtailments are meant to “protect the nation from national security and public safety threats.”
In the context of Tonga, the release cited overstay data from 2024 as apparent justification for its place on the list.
According to those numbers, collected by the Department of Homeland Security, Tonga had a suspected in-country overstay rate (excluding those who eventually returned to Tonga but did so after their admission period expired) of 6%, or 140 individuals, in 2024 for those traveling with tourist or business-related visas. For those who arrived on a student visa, or what’s known as an “exchange visitor” visa (given to au pairs, interns, camp counselors and the like), that number was 13%, or 12 individuals.
“There are many overstayers,” said Tongan American Susi Feltch-Malohifo’ou, CEO of one of Utah’s largest Pacific Islander organizations: Pacific Island Knowledge 2 Action Resources.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Susi Feltch-Malohifo'ou, one of the founders of Pacific Island Knowledge 2 Action Resources (PIK2AR), described the travel ban as "justified."
Given this, the Latter-day Saint and Taylorsville resident called the travel ban “justified” and emphasized that she had heard little anxiety expressed over it by other Tongans living in Utah.
Beyond BYU-Hawaii
Audrey Perry Martin, the spokesperson for the faith’s flagship BYU campus, in Provo, declined to comment on questions regarding the size of the school’s Tongan student population and its efforts to support them, citing a desire to protect their privacy.
(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) The student section snaps selfies with Cosmo during the volleyball match-up between Brigham Young University and Utah State University at the George Albert Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Sept. 1, 2022.
When asked the same questions, BYU-Idaho spokesperson Brett Crandall responded that the school has no students enrolled from Tonga on student visas.
Likewise for Utah State University.
University of Utah spokesperson Rebecca Walsh said the school had fewer than 10 students, faculty and staff total who are Tongan citizens. The school, Walsh said, is closely monitoring changes in immigration and travel policies that could impact students and updating its website regularly with relevant information. In addition to advising those in the country on visas to keep their documentation up to date and handy, the U. is discouraging “nonessential” international travel and providing those who need it with access to mental health counseling and a case manager.
Citing federal student privacy laws, Southern Utah University spokesperson Brooke Heath did not provide a number but nodded at the Tongan presence in a statement affirming the school’s commitment to the community — as well as federal policy.
“We continue to be in communication with our Tongan citizen students and the broader international student body to ensure they have access to the necessary support and information,” Heath said. “As a public institution, SUU adheres to all state and federal regulations while remaining steadfast in our commitment to our global campus community.”
LDS Church remains silent
According to the Utah-based global church, more than 68,600 Latter-day Saints are on its rolls in Tonga, a meaningful majority in a nation whose population has hovered around 100,000 for decades.
When asked about President Donald Trump’s travel bans, including the one on Tonga, church spokesperson Doug Andersen pointed to earlier news releases about the 2017 ban targeting Muslim-majority nations.
(Doug Mills | The New York Times) President Donald Trump speaks during an executive order signing event in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington in December. His administration has put new limits on travels from Tonga.
Those included quotes by faith founder Joseph Smith in support of religious freedom and a call, issued a day after the 2017 ban, to “all people and governments to cooperate fully in seeking the best solutions to meet human needs and relieve suffering.”
Amid the avalanche of executive orders that accompanied the start of Trump’s second term, the church again issued a news release regarding immigration in January 2025. In it, church leaders emphasized that the church “obeys the law.”
“We follow Jesus Christ by loving our neighbors,” the release added, further noting the faith’s aim to provide aid to those in need and the importance of “keeping families together.”
Note to readers • The Tribune’s Peggy Fletcher Stack contributed reporting to this story. The article is available to Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.