Micronesians in Hawaiʻi: Social Issues

The Department of Human Services provides programs, services, and benefits that help Hawaii's most vulnerable people lead productive and fulfilling lives. Through this site, one can find reports on child abuse/neglect, homelessness, public assistance programs and more.
From the DHS homepage, click on Reports in the menu and then select DHS Annual DataBooks for comprehensive data.

Video - streaming available through UHM Library. Ibrahim Aoude interviews the following: Ulla Hasager, Assistant Specialist, Ethnic Studies UHM; Leonard leon, BA Candidate in Creative Media and Anthropology UHM; Dr. Neal Palafox, MD, MPH (JABSOM) UHM; and Joakim "Jojo" Peters, Ph.D. student in Special Education UHM. The discussion focused on the relationship between the U.S. and Micronesia to give a background for the presence of Micronesians in the U.S., especially in Hawai'i. The conditions of the Micronesian communities and the discrimination, both structural (institutional) and societal were discussed. Light was shed on the significance of the Micronesian communities to Hawai'i and the ways in which the situation of those communities can improved markedly.

Hawaii Journal of Public Health
Micronesian people are migrating to Hawaii in increasing numbers and are experiencing discrimination in the society at large and in the health care system. General aspects and underlying causes of discrimination against Micronesians in
Hawaiʻi are described as background to the experience of the most recent migrants in the health system. The State itself discriminated against Micronesians by disenrolling them from Medicaid, but the State’s actions were found unconstitutional in federal court. Further steps toward surmounting discrimination are proposed.

Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa

Video by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, a Marshall Islander poet, performance artist, educator. She received international acclaim through her poetry performance at the opening of the United Nations Climate Summit in New York in 2014. Her writing and performances have been featured by CNN, Democracy Now, the Huffington Post, NBC News, National Geographic, and more. In February 2017, the University of Arizona Press published her first collection of poetry, Iep Jāltok: Poems from a Marshallese Daughter.

Micronesians are leaving their home islands by the tens of thousands and coming to the U.S. This Civil Beat special report follows that journey and examines the effect it’s having on the communities in which they are settling.

Honolulu Magazine
Micronesians are Hawaii's newest arrivals. We wanted to find out more about what it’s like to make a new life here.

Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Justice
This article focuses on the structural barriers Micronesian families confront in their struggle to succeed in Hawaii. These barriers include, but are not limited to: lack of access to life-sustaining medical services and discrimination in housing/employment/education.

This 2019 report by the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work presents the results of a survey of Micronesians about bias and discrimination they have experienced.

A Report of the Hawaii Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (2019), regarding COFA migrant access to Housing, Healthcare, Education, Equal Employment Opportunity, Language Access, and Cultural Competency.