Samoa's corrections minister does not want American Samoa to send Samoan prisoners back.
American Samoa has expanded its Territorial Correctional Facility Photo: RNZI Monica Miller
Tialavea Tionisio Hunt told the Samoa Observer he would not entertain the notion of convicted Samoans being deported.
The idea of repatriation was flagged by American Samoa's police commissioner as a way to reduce numbers at the territory's overcrowded prison.
The commissioner Le'i Sonny Thompson said the majority of prisoners in American Samoa are Samoan nationals.