New Delhi, Dec. 27 -- The tiny Pacific nation of Palau reportedly agreed to take up to 75 third-country deportees from the US who don't have a criminal record - in exchange for a $7.5 million grant to support the roughly 18,000-person island chain.

According to the New York Post, Palau's President Surangel Whipps Jr. and the US embassy in Koror had announced the $100,000 per-deportee fee on Christmas Eve.

"Palau and the United States signed a Memorandum of Understanding allowing up to 75 third country nationals, who have never been charged with a crime, to live and work in Palau, helping address local labor shortages in needed occupations," the country's president said in a statement.

"In connection with this arrangement, the United St...