By Finau Fonua, ABC
Photo: AP / Rebecca Blackwell
Tongan citizen Lionel Funaki fears a United States policy of "collective punishment" has ended his dream of studying in Hawaii.
He is one of many in the Pacific Island nation grappling with the Trump administration's new travel restrictions affecting Tongan nationals.
Under new immigration restrictions that came into effect on 1 January, the US has suspended issuing visas to Tongans for short-term visits, tourism and business purposes.
Photo: Supplied / Lionel Funaki
Only two weeks after the new rules came into effect, the US State Department, in a separate measure, also said it would suspend processing immigrant visas for people from 75 countries including Fiji.
Funaki, who is based in Tonga and used to study in Hawaii at Brigham Young University, said he was saddened by the new measures imposed on Tongan nationals.
"I was
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