Mar. 14—Hawaii’s congressional delegation in a letter Tuesday urged Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell to reopen enrollment for the Individuals and Households Program to include Compacts of Free Association citizens—citizens of the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau who can live and work in the U.S. without a visa indefinitely.

Hawaii’s congressional delegation in a letter Tuesday urged Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell to reopen enrollment for the Individuals and Households Program to include Compacts of Free Association citizens—citizens of the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau who can live and work in the U.S. without a visa indefinitely.

The letter from Sen.

Mazie Hirono, Sen. Brian Schatz, Rep. Jill Tokuda and Rep. Ed Case came after a federal spending bill that includes Hirono’s Compact Impact Fairness Act, which restores COFA citizens’ access to federal benefits, was signed into law last week.

“This change will make life better for thousands of COFA citizens in Hawaii, ” Hirono said in a news release. “I’ve appreciated the partnership of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and thank the many advocates—in Hawaii and in COFA communities across the country—whose hard work made this victory possible.”

The FEMA-run Individuals and Households Program provides financial assistance and direct serv ­ices to eligible individuals and households affected by a disaster. It is one of the many FEMA-run assistance programs providing support to victims of the Aug. 8 wildfires on Maui.

To be eligible for FEMA assistance, applicants must be U.S. citizens, noncitizen nationals or qualified noncitizens, according to FEMA’s website. A provision in the newly signed law includes giving COFA citizens access to FEMA-run programs, the lawmakers wrote in the letter.

“In Hawaii, we continue to work toward recovery from the devastating wildfires on Maui that occurred in August 2023, ” the letter reads. “COFA citizens are very much a part of the community impacted by the wildfires, but have only been able to access assistance through non-federal pathways up until this point.”

IHP assistance could include a temporary housing unit, or funding for temporary housing, home repairs or replacements, hazard mitigation assistance, or uninsured or under-insured expenses resulting from disasters.

“Allowing COFA citizens impacted by the Maui wildfires to be eligible for FEMA support will give them access to the most centralized and comprehensive recovery resources available from the federal government, and will put them on a more stable path to rebuilding their lives, ” the letter says.

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