immigrants

Micronesians are Hawaiʻi’s newest and fastest growing immigrant population. For more than 30 years, citizens of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau, moved to Hawaiʻi to seek greater opportunities for employment and education. And now, the voice of the next generation of this immigrant population is emerging. HPR’s Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports.

President Trump says the new federal crackdown on undocumented immigrants will make our country safer.  But in Hawaiʻi, there have not been many reports linking illegal immigration and violent crime.  In the last of a series of reports, HPR contributing reporter Jackie Young investigates how safe we are now, and what may come next with the issue of illegal immigration.

As federal officials crack down on illegal immigration, many in Hawaiʻi’s faith community are mobilizing.  But actions come with risks. In her continuing series on undocumented immigrants in Hawaiʻi, HPR contributing reporter Jackie Young has the story.

Immigration policy has been a point of disagreement throughout our country’s history.  Laws have changed at different times to address specific societal issues of the day.  In her continuing series, HPR contributing reporter Jackie Young examines some of those laws, and how they affect one immigrant in Hawaiʻi.

The Migration Policy Institute estimates there are about 21,000 undocumented immigrants living in Hawai‘i. The PEW Research Center says this number could be as high as 45,000.  HPR contributing reporter Jackie Young begins a series of reports, looking at who the undocumented immigrants are in our state, and how new federal immigration policies are affecting them.

 In Canberra, this week, Australia's parliament is considering a new law to make the country's controversial immigration laws even tougher. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull proposes to ban asylum seekers in off shore detention camps from Australia, for life. We have more from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

Australia's High Court is considering a challenge to the country's controversial off shore detention camps - all migrants who try to reach Australia by sea are sent to facilities  either on the Pacific Island nation of Nauru or to an atoll in Papua New Guinea. Now an Australian Doctor has challenged the government to prosecute him, for speaking out about conditions in the camps. Details from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

In a speech in London this week, former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that Europe should respond to its migrant crisis the same way Australia did: turn away the boats and close the borders.  Abbott was forced out of office last month and this is his first major speech since. More from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

Congress returns to work in the nation’s capital this week and immigration policy may be one of the topics on the agenda. In Australia, recent immigration trends have shown a surprising trend: a big gain from one particular European country. HPR’s Bill Dorman has more in today’s Asia Minute.

This Independence Day weekend, nearly 9,000 new Americans will become U.S. citizens. Here in Hawaii, 75 people took their oath of allegiance in a ceremony aboard the U.S.S. Missouri in Pearl Harbor. HPR’s Molly Solomon was there and has this audio postcard.