Immigration

Immigration & Kona Coffee Workers; UH Computer Glitch; Push-back on Wind and Solar; Hawaii Woodworking

Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono is joining efforts to prevent changes to an immigration guideline. The amendments would make it harder for low-income immigrants to get green cards or temporary visas. 

A controversial visa policy in Australia is coming under closer examination. The program allows permanent residence for investors who invest several million dollars.

Neighborhood Boards; Immigration; Pacific Arts Festival; Acapella Academy

The National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles is prepared for a multi-year battle in the courts and U.S. Congress to oppose Trump Administration policies that aim to restrict both legal and illegal immigration. 

Immigration remains a political issue in the United States, and that trend has spread elsewhere in the world. In Australia, the government announced some immigration policy changes this week.

More than $300 million in funding for military construction projects in Hawaii could potentially be diverted to pay for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. After declaring a national emergency, President Trump directed the Defense Department to identify projects from which funds could be repurposed.

More than 50,000 immigrants in Hawaiʻi are eligible to become American citizens but have not yet applied. That’s according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Agency. But the current political climate may be compelling more of them to take on the costly and lengthy task of becoming a citizen. And now, HPR’s Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports, they’ve got a little help.

It’s easy to confuse the flags of New Zealand and Australia. Both feature the British Union Jack and stars on a dark blue background. Now, in the latest eruption in a war of words between the two old allies, New Zealand’s acting Prime Minster said Australia had copied New Zealand’s flag, and ought to change it.

Writer, comedian Hari Kondabolu has been hailed for working new social territory with his standup, video, and podcast projects.  The New York Times calls him "one of the most necessary political comedians working today", HPR’s Noe Tanigawa reports Kondabolu’s willingness to tackle even tough contemporary topics with humor and humanity set him apart. 

Today is Civil Liberties and the Constitution Day in Hawai‘i, honoring the birthday of Fred Korematsu, the man who challenged Executive Order 9066 in 1942.  That order allowed over 120,000 ethnic Japanese to be incarcerated during WWII.  Seventy percent of those prisoners were American citizens.  This detention is recognized as a clear violation of civil rights, but Americans at the time did not protest, and scholars today ask whether something like that could happen again.  HPR’s Noe Tanigawa reports.   

Deporting Veterans; Resilient Cities; Politics of Tourism

DACA in Hawaii; Mapping Hawaii’s Tax Structure; Social Media Marketing    

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.

Getting behind the headlines can be a humanizing experience.  That’s what organizers of the Seventh Art Stand screening and discussion series hope will happen when you view their films about Muslim lives around the world.  Named for the seven Muslim countries originally targeted for U.S. immigration and travel restrictions, the Seventh Art Stand experience is being presented in over fifty cities, including Honolulu.  HPR’s Noe Tanigawa reports.

A tacit deal between Australia and the United States is now explicit. In an interview with Australia’s Sky News, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton conceded for the first time that Australia will not accept a group of Central American refugees until the U.S. accepts asylum seekers held on the Pacific Islands of Manus and Nauru….more from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute

Hawaii’s lawsuit against President Trump has been postponed.

  The ramifications and life after President Trump's Executive Order Travel Restrictions. Guests: Clare Hanusz, Hakim Ouansafi Chair of the Muslim Association of Hawaii, Dr. Tin Myaing Thein Executive Director of the Pacific Gateway Center, and Mateo Cabellero Legal Director of the ACLU of Hawaiʻi join the discussion.

President Donald Trump’s actions on immigration have drawn attention from a number of Muslim majority countries and others. But a different aspect of the emerging immigration policy in Washington is a focus in the world’s largest democracy. HPR’s Bill Dorman explains in today’s Asia Minute.