The full story
Immigrant-led and immigrant-serving organizations, advocates, workers, students, and faith leaders — working together across the islands.
Rooted in community.
Guided by lived experience.
The Hawaiʻi Coalition for Immigrant Rights (HCIR) is a statewide coalition of immigrant-led and immigrant-serving organizations, advocates, workers, students, and faith leaders working together to advance justice and inclusion for immigrant and migrant communities across Hawaiʻi. Rooted in community and guided by lived experience, HCIR builds collective power through policy advocacy, education, and coalition organizing to protect rights, shape systems, and empower communities.
How change happens
Listen
Surveys and community meetings find the gaps.
Educate
Know Your Rights trainings and webinars build knowledge.
Organize
Members align on shared priorities.
Testify
Campaigns and public testimony move the Capitol.
Protect
New laws become real protections.
Renew
Town halls carry wins back to communities.
Our Mission
To protect rights, shape systems, and empower communities by advancing just and inclusive policies, strengthening community leadership, and ensuring immigrant voices are centered in decision-making across Hawaiʻi. HCIR builds collective power through advocacy, education, and partnership so that immigrant and migrant families thrive with dignity, equity, and full participation in community life.
MOur Vision
We envision a Hawaiʻi where all immigrants and their families belong, contribute, and lead — a state where belonging is reflected in law, community, and opportunity; where language and cultural diversity are strengths; and where systems are shaped by the people they serve.
VHCIR’s strategic approach centers on people, power, and policy. It grounds advocacy in lived experience, building collective community power, and advancing immigrant-centered policy change. Through education, organizing, and coalition-led advocacy, we protect rights, shape systems, and empower communities across Hawaiʻi.
HCIR’s historical timeline of impact
Fifteen years of showing up — from a founding coalition to an immigrant-centered future.
A coalition is formed
Faith leaders, attorneys, and organizations unite to advocate for better immigration laws.
Securing major policy wins
Achieved tuition equity for undocumented students and driver’s license access for all residents.
Refounded as a coalition
Mid-pandemic, the former Immigration Task Force re-formed as a coalition of immigrants, immigrant-led and -serving organizations, and allies — meeting monthly ever since.
- Adopted the HCIR mission statement and organized working groups on CARES Act funding, COFA medical coverage, and language access.
- Monitored ICE enforcement and advocated directly with Hawaiʻi Island leaders on police–ICE collaboration.
- Advanced the Hoʻokipa Bill to further separate state and county police from ICE.
- Launched Know-Your-Immigrant-Rights trainings and opened the conversation on T and U visa certifications.
Budgets protected, language access built
Met directly with Gov. Ige — and won restored budgets for the Office of Language Access and the Office of Community Services.
- Vaccine equity for LEP communities: on-site interpretation at 15 vaccine sites, pop-up clinics with WAO and FilCom, and multilingual PSAs on KNDI radio.
- Commissioned the New American Economy report mapping Hawaiʻi’s immigration landscape.
- Partnered with WSH on interpreter training for community leaders.
- Launched a broadband project with the Department of Transportation to identify gaps in digital access.
The coalition takes shape
Finalized the HCIR logo with the migratory bird as its symbol, brought on paid staff for the first time, and tracked a five-bill package at the Legislature.
- Won the $25,000 Gold Futures Challenge and launched the We Are Home campaign with a Roadmap to Citizenship.
- Created State and Federal advocacy taskforces under the Executive Committee.
- Successfully advocated to keep the Office of Language Access an independent agency.
- Tracked companion bills on nurse licensing, limited-purpose ID cards, immigrant resource centers, language access, and immigration legal services — several carried into 2023.
Priorities pass, the coalition expands
Fiscally sponsored by HCAN, HCIR pushed a broad package — youth programs, an Immigrant Services and Access Unit, and civil legal services funding all passed with amendments.
- Testified on youth programs, immigrant services, civil legal services, health care for immigrants, data disaggregation, and court interpreter pay.
- Co-sponsored the International Workers’ Day rally and prepared Medicaid re-enrollment outreach.
- Advocated for language-accessible ballots and expanded outreach to Hawaiʻi Island.
Maui response and a landmark session
HCIR’s biggest year of growth: five full-time staff plus contractors, 30 organizational testimonies, and 250–300+ pieces of member testimony.
- Led the Crisis Language Access call and represented LEP fire survivors on the state ESF-6 call.
- Built the Outreach Care Navigator program with DHS, funded by the Red Cross.
- Helped win the federal Compact Impact Fairness Act — restoring COFA access to federal benefits, over $307M for Hawaiʻi.
- First Language Access Lobby Day at the Capitol: about 200 attendees and 10 lobbying visits.
- Bills passed: an Immigration Services Unit, multilingual technology standards, and a language access coordinator at HI-EMA (Act 210).
Consolidating for the long run
A year of infrastructure and staying power: long-term planning, three Community Equity Liaison positions at the City and County of Honolulu, and 13 priority bills tracked.
- Due-process and legal-representation bills advanced furthest in a contested session.
- Kept the Crisis Language Access call running as a standing resource for FEMA, the Red Cross, and DHS.
- Supported the HI-EMA language access coordinator and the Office of Language Access.
- A national index ranked Honolulu 95th of 100 U.S. cities on immigrant integration — underscoring the work ahead.
Six bills signed into law
As the Campaign for Immigrant Justice — with the ACLU of Hawaiʻi and The Legal Clinic — six bills were signed by Gov. Green in June 2026 and celebrated at the Capitol on July 28.
- Act 141 bans 287(g) agreements and immigration detention by local police.
- Act 142 sets statewide U and T visa certification standards.
- Act 143 reforms sentencing to avoid federal immigration consequences.
- Act 161 — the TRUTH Act — requires custody-rights notice before ICE interviews.
- Act 162 protects schools, health facilities, libraries, and shelters — policies due January 1, 2027.
- Act 179 creates a language access education and workforce program at the University of Hawaiʻi.
What our coalition tells us
We survey our member organizations to find the gaps between what communities need and what systems provide — then organize, advocate, and direct resources to close them. Data strengthens coordination, sharpens policy, and shows funders where investment matters most.
of member organizations serve communities in multiple languages…
…yet only 15% can offer formal translation or interpretation.
provide legal services, while every surveyed org serves Pacific Islander immigrants.
report statewide reach — but fewer than half are active on Hawaiʻi Island or Kauaʻi.
Sources: HCIR member survey · USAFacts, U.S. Census Bureau data, 2024.