Our Background

The Urgent Need for Immigration Legal Services

​The Burmese people are among the world’s most displaced and uprooted populations, having lived under multiple governing powers and prolonged political instability. As a result, many Burmese families have fled their homeland in search of safety and stability. Today, significant Burmese immigrant communities reside in the United States, with a particularly strong presence in Hawaiʻi.At the same time, the U.S. immigration landscape has undergone sweeping and increasingly hostile changes. Federal funding for refugee resettlement has ended, and key humanitarian protections such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and other relief programs have been terminated. Mass deportations are underway, with more than half of those affected having no criminal background. Increased ICE enforcement, expanded interagency support for immigration raids, racial profiling, and challenges to birthright citizenship have further intensified fear and uncertainty within immigrant communities. The legal status of international students is also increasingly at risk.Compounding these challenges is the reduction or elimination of funding for critical immigration services, including Match Grant programs, Refugee Resettlement assistance, and humanitarian initiatives such as U4U. Together, these changes have exposed a deeply strained and broken system.These conditions have created an urgent and compelling need to expand access to immigration legal services. Without legal representation, immigrants are often denied due process, leading to prolonged detention, family separation, and irreversible harm. Access to legal aid is not only essential for fairness and justice it is fundamental to protecting human dignity and the rule of law. MAOH hopes to be a welcome and referral center for the newly-arrived to Hawaii. MAOH works with Harris United Methodist Church that already has programs for immigrants and refugees. Meeting Gaps in Immigrant Needs: Partnership with HarrisThe United Methodist Church is providing an office and meeting space in the Kumoro Room once a week. MAOH and the United Methodist Church will coordinate direct client assistance needs being asked for to Harris Church. MAOH will help immigrants to their immigration hearings and appointments on O‘ahu.Get Interpreters to accompany lawyers to the FDC.Find and cover notaries that are available at odd hours and are free / low cost