Native Hawaiians are still waiting for state and federal officials to fulfill the promises of land legislation that was signed into law 25 years ago. “Justice delayed is justice denied,” said one former governor.

In a 1995 law, the U.S. promised to pay its land debt to Hawaiians, thousands of whom are waiting for homes. But Congress, including the state’s own delegation, voted to give the land to other parties.

For the last year, reporter Rob Perez has been investigating Native land dispossession in Hawaii. His story starts long before in Guam, where his family had its own brush with land takings.

The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is pushing a plan to build a casino on ancestral land to raise money for more housing. This happened just after the Star-Advertiser and ProPublica found chronic problems in the state’s native land program.

Hawaii hired a developer to build homes to deliver on a century-old promise of reparations to Native Hawaiians. But the state didn’t inspect construction. Homeowners said they’ve had water damage, air conditioning breakdowns and other issues.

For decades, the U.S. government has failed to test for chemicals and metals in fish. So, we did. What we found was alarming for tribes.

For Somali Muslim families in Minnesota, a contract for deed seems like an easier path to homeownership. But predatory practices and poor regulation can make it a financial trap rather than a good deal.

After her baby died in the night, a young mother called 911. Police thought they could read her mind just by listening. Now she’s haunted by the words she chose.

When Kabul fell, Biden promised to rescue Afghan allies. For 14-year-old Rezwan Kohistani and his family, that meant being sent to a remote Missouri town where no other Afghans lived. “We’d been left alone,” said Rezwan’s father.

Sheltered workshops in Missouri pay disabled workers very low wages. They rarely help workers move on to higher-paying jobs.

A young mother rents a house near Milwaukee. The previous tenant tells her, “Baby, they shouldn’t have let you move in.”