The mission of The Legal Clinic (TLC) is to ensure justice for low-income immigrants and migrants in Hawai’i, through high-quality immigration legal services, education, and advocacy.

TLC provides confidential, compassionate and free immigration legal services to financially-eligible immigrants and COFA* residents in Hawaiʻi. The Legal Clinic is a non-governmental, non-profit organization, and does not share client information with the government.

*COFA refers to the Compacts of Free Association (Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Marshall Islands, Palau)

TLC’s services include:

  • Immigration Legal Counsel
  • Help with Permanent Residency and US Citizenship Applications
  • Assistance securing COFA* Identification
  • Know Your Rights Workshops
  • Advocacy & Community Education on Immigrant Rights

Support The Legal Clinic

We appreciate your support on behalf of the clients we serve!

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support the work of The Legal Clinic. Your donation will allow our clinic to provide free or low-cost immigration legal services to low-income refugees and immigrants in Hawaiʻi.  We depend on supporters like you to serve the immigrant community in Hawaiʻi.

To donate online or by check click here

To stay up to date on our work and events, please send us your contact info via our Contact Us page .

To volunteer, please complete our Volunteer Application .

Esther K. and Clifford I. Arinaga Founders Circle

Much of the vision for The Legal Clinic can be attributed to one of its founders, Esther K. Arinaga, a former immigration attorney who, together with her late husband, Clifford, has long advocated for civil rights in Hawaii. Recognizing that multi-year, unrestricted funding is critical to TLC’s sustainability, Esther established a Founders Circle and made a generous pledge of $25,000 over five years to support TLC’s ongoing work. To join the Founders Circle, individual donors pledge a minimum of $5,000 a year for three or more years. Interested donors can contact The Legal Clinic for more information.

A special thanks to these generous sponsors of The Legal Clinic: