About The Legal Clinic
Our Mission: To ensure justice for low-income immigrants and migrants in Hawai’i through high-quality immigration legal services, education, and advocacy.
We believe that immigrants seeking assistance with naturalization (citizenship) applications, asylum petitions, or family reunification are entitled to high-quality, experienced legal assistance. No one should be denied the help of a lawyer due to their inability to pay or due to their immigration status. The Legal Clinic also stands ready to support DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) cases and the rights of COFA (Compacts of Free Association) citizens in Hawai‘i.
Nearly one in five Hawai‘i residents is an immigrant, and over half of the state’s immigrants are naturalized U.S. citizens. Yet access to affordable or free immigration legal services is very limited. Immigrants who fear returning to their home countries due to persecution may be entitled to asylum or other legal protections, while others who are already eligible for citizenship may not know how to apply due to a lack of resources and information.
Our Vision: Hope, dignity, and justice for immigrants and migrants in Hawaiʻi.
“There is currently no right to a lawyer for people in immigration proceedings who face the devastating consequences of immigration enforcement, including detention and deportation. As a result, most people who cannot afford an attorney – including an estimated 70 percent of those in immigration detention – are left to fend for themselves in navigating the complexities of immigration law while facing highly-trained government attorneys.”
