deportation

Ricky D. Gordon, 55, and Rose I. Gordon, 35, were arrested in 2014 after they were accused of engaging in sexual behaviour with the little girl.

Rose’s husband Ricky was sentenced to 27 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in June 2015 to first-degree child rape and child molestation and possession of child pornography.

Richard Small's comments come after a Tongan family he represented won a last-ditch appeal to stay in the country.

Viliami and Limiteti Talamai came to New Zealand in 2008 with their two young children hoping for a better life.

Siofilisi and Ilisapesi Misinale arrived in Australia almost 25 years ago and subsequently overstayed their tourist and student visas.

Since then, the Immigration Department has refused the couple's requests to obtain permanent visas and the family claims the department has threatened to send them back to Tonga.

Government data indicates that over the past 15 years, there's a rate of sixteen deportations of Marshall Islanders per year.

While there's been a slight decline in the deportation rate this year, overall the numbers have increased dramatically from 2011. It coincides with ongoing heavy Marshallese out-migration to the US, with an average of over 1,000 islanders leaving to the US annually since the late 1990s.