U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono said she asked President Barack Obama on Friday for federal money to help Hawaii absorb the costs of providing Pacific migrants with health care and education services.

Migrants from Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau have come to Hawaii and other states under the Compact of Free Association, an agreement intended to provide federal economic assistance to Pacific islanders and to protect U.S. military interests in the region. Gov. Neil Abercrombie has estimated that the cost of providing state services to Pacific migrants was $115 million last year, more than three times as high as it was a decade ago, and the Hawaii congressional delegation has sought more federal help.

"I brought up the problem that Hawaii is having with our compact migrants and the impact on our health care costs and our education system, and that we needed recognition and support from the federal government in terms of money that would help the state of Hawaii support these compact migrants as they come to Hawaii and some other states that are really impacted," Hirono told reporters in a conference call from Washington, D.C.

Hirono, D-Hawaii, and several other lawmakers in the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus met privately with Obama in the Cabinet Room at the White House on Friday. Some lawmakers in the caucus had been frustrated that Obama had not officially met with the caucus three years into his presidency. Obama had met with congressional Hispanic and black caucuses.

Lawmakers said afterward that they discussed issues such as immigration reform, judicial appointments and the importance of White House engagement with the Asian and Pacific Islander community.

U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., the caucus chairwoman, said in a statement that "despite the prevailing myth that we are a successful ‘model minority,’ our community continues to face significant unmet needs. Today’s meeting helped confirm that we have a partner and champion in President Obama."

Hirono said she asked Obama to issue an executive order directing federal departments to collect disaggregated data so the government can better tailor federal programs. She said the Hawaii-born Obama understands that all Asian and Pacific Islanders are not the same, but other federal officials might not.

"The Asian Pacific Islander community is not a monolithic community, and it is very important that the administration collect what’s known as disaggregated data," she said. "But basically it’s data from the various groups that make up the API community — the Filipinos, the Southeast Asians, the Native Hawaiians, the Micronesians.

"We are not a monolithic group, and when we’re all lumped together it is very hard for us to devise and support the kind of programs that are intended, for example, in the education area, to close the achievement gap."