Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — To prevent the possibility of repeat offenders remaining in the territory and to further protect American Samoa, Sen. Logo’ai Siaki Logo’ai introduced legislation, which would require “any foreign nationals convicted of a felony be immediately deported from the Territory.”

The bill’s preamble points out that felonies are the most serious type of criminal offenses often involving serious physical harm to victims but also including offenses like white-collar crimes and fraud schemes.

Additionally, the territory “will not tolerate persons who do not adhere to the laws of American Samoa and if they are foreign nationals they should be deported immediately to their country of origin.”

Immediate deportation of a convicted foreigner would “prevent the possibility of repeat offenders and will continue to protect and keep the citizens of American Samoa safe,” the bill’s preamble states.

The bill, assigned to the Senate Public Safety Committee, amended sentencing provisions of the law subtitled, “Felony or misdemeanor — Combination of dispositions” by adding that, the “court may sentence to immediate deportation if [the] person is a foreign national.”

Current law states that whenever any person has been found guilty of a felony or a misdemeanor, the court shall make 1 or more of the following dispositions of the offender in any appropriate combination.

The court may:
• sentence the person to a term of imprisonment as authorized by 46.2301 et seq.;
• sentence the person to pay a fine as authorized by 46.2101 et seq.;
• suspend the imposition of sentence, with or without placing the person on probation;
• pronounce sentence and suspend its execution, placing the person on probation;
• impose a period of detention as a condition of probation, as authorized by 46.2206;
• require the person to do ordinary labor.

The law also states that the sentence shall be carried out under the direction of the pulenu’u of the person’s village, the Attorney General, or the county chief of the person’s county as the court may direct.

The new bill, introduced recently by Logo’ai, a retired Associate Judge of the High Court, comes at a time when there are many cases coming out of the court dealing with sexual assault and rape of minors by citizens of Samoa. Defendants sentenced so far are required by the court to leave the territory after serving required jail time as a condition of probation.