Hawai‘i to Receive $1.2M to Cover Impacts of Migrants from FAS

The US Department of the Interior will release $1,276,000 to the State of Hawai‘i as partial compensation for the financial burden sustained as a result of migrants from the freely associated states of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau, US Senator Brian Schatz announced today.

US Sen. Brian Schatz. Courtesy photo.

“This funding will continue to help Hawai‘i take care of its FAS citizens, which is the right thing to do. However, the disproportionate financial impact to Hawai‘i is the direct result of an agreement made by the federal government, not the state,” said Sen. Schatz. “The federal government should stop passing unfair costs down to the state, honor its commitment, and take full responsibility.”

The funds are in addition to $12,610,392 already released by DOI to Hawai‘i for fiscal year 2017.

The Compacts of Free Association approved in Public Law 99-239 and Public Law 99-658 allow for citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau to live and work in the US as legal non-immigrants.

According to the 2013 Compact impact enumeration conducted by the US Bureau of Census, there are 17,170 FAS migrants in Hawai‘i.