Who are Pacific Islanders?
• Pacific Islanders are the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands (Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia), such as Native Hawaiians, Samoans, Guamanians, and Chamorros. American Samoa and Guam are U.S. territories (same status as Puerto Rico), so when Samoans and Guamanians relocate to mainland U.S., they are not considered immigrants. • Some Asian Americans from East and Southeast Asia whose families were indigenous to islands in the Pacific Ocean consider themselves Pacific Islander, too.
