They came to America after the US irradiated their islands. Now they face an uncertain future

SPOKANE, Wash. - They come from a low-lying Pacific island nation synonymous with U.S. nuclear weapons testing during the Cold War. In part because of that troubled history, one-third of the Marshall Islands' population - roughly 27,000 and growing - now reside in the United States, where their future is uncertain.

Under a 1986 bilateral agreement, the Marshallese people were permitted to enter the United States as "legal non-immigrants" in return for the U.S. military continuing to operate a weapons testing base in the Marshalls. Many islanders found jobs in meat processing plants in Arkansas, canneries in Oregon and various service industries in Washington state, including in Spokane, where church groups and family helped build a community providing newcomers with employment, homes, education and healthcare.

Now, amid tensions caused by lingering radiation and sea-level rise in the Marshall Islands, it is uncertain the two countries will