Three of Hawaii’s four congressional delegates sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security condemning “aggressive immigration enforcement actions ” in the islands, demanding basic information about arrests and deportations.
U.S. Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz and U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda sent a letter Tuesday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanding the agency provide “clarifications on its policies and procedures for immigration enforcement ” and monthly briefings to each of their offices.
The lawmakers have consistently pushed back against the Trump administration’s tactics in seeking to carry out the largest mass deportation in U.S. history.
“Rather than making us safer or more secure, your needlessly aggressive immigration enforcement has created chaos and confusion in our communities while raising due process concerns. Our offices have heard from hundreds of constituents. They are concerned about your efforts to sweep up children, workers, and longtime members of our community with little apparent regard for their criminal history or lack thereof, ” wrote the three Hawaii federal lawmakers. “This approach is exacerbated by DHS’ public statements insisting that all noncitizens being detained pose a threat, and implying that immigrants are harming American citizens. We request that DHS contemplate different approaches to carrying out its duties in a way that prevents further erosion of trust between Hawaii’s citizens and DHS.”
The lawmakers pointed to several high profile Hawaii incidents, including one in which they said federal agents interrogated the wife of an active-duty military member upon her arrival to the U.S., denying her entry and sending her to a detention center where she was “strip searched and subjected to a cavity search, and prohibited from contacting friends and family before being deported.”
They also criticized Homeland Security Investigations agents who “attempted to gain access to farms, followed workers home from work, and loitered ” in areas frequented by workers.
DHS officials did not respond to Honolulu Star-Advertiser requests for comment about the letter from Hawaii lawmakers.
Absent from the Hawaii’s congressional delegation’s letter was U.S. Rep. Ed Case.
Case told the Star-Advertiser in a statement that he “greatly ” respects his delegation colleagues and agrees “on most national issues most of the time, and regularly signs joint delegation letters as part of our mutual efforts.”
“This letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Noem is one of the few exceptions where I regrettably concluded that it did not fully capture the broader views on immigration of me and, I believe, the mainstream of my constituents. I fully agree with many of the statements in the letter, ” said Case, noting he supported an amendment requiring ICE agents to display their identifying information when conducting enforcement actions.
Case said special procedures should be followed for legitimate enforcement in sensitive areas such as “hospitals and places of worship ” and that consequences of a “highly confusing immigration system ” combined with current enforcement is having a negative impact on many local industries and communities.
“However, I also believe that we must enforce our immigration laws and that we have not focused sufficiently on enforcement of our immigration laws, whether at the border or elsewhere, as part of overall comprehensive immigration reform across multiple parts of our immigration system. I do not believe that the answer to major issues with our current immigration system is to fail to enforce current law and to deny or rationalize away the critical failure over several decades, administrations and congressional majorities to prevent illegal immigration, ” said Case.
DHS and the U.S. Department of Justice are collaborating on targeted enforcement operations to investigate and arrest alleged violators of U.S. immigration law.
As of June 11, federal agents had made 117 administrative arrests this year in Hawaii, according to the Deportation Data Project, which collects and posts “public, anonymized U.S. government immigration enforcement datasets ” acquired through Freedom of Information Act requests.
Those the criminal arrests.
have been arrested in Hawaii so far this year for alleged violations of immigration law, according to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Information on exactly how many over 100, where they were arrested in Hawaii and for what reason has not been made public.
DHS officials did not reply to Star-Advertiser requests for comment on the Deportation Data Project numbers or the latest arrests resulting from targeted enforcement actions.
Since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, more than 236, 000 immigrants have been arrested nationwide and over 207, 000 deported as of June 13, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The administrative arrests are handled by the Executive Office for Immigration Review, an agency within the U.S. Department of Justice that administers the nation’s immigration court system. Immigration judges conduct removal hearings and other administrative court proceedings, according to a statement to the Star-Advertiser from EOIR officials.
The removal process begins when DHS initiates removal proceedings and serves an individual with a charging document, also referred to as a Notice to Appear, and files that charging document with one of EOIR’s immigration courts.
In advance of DHS filing the charging document, EOIR has no jurisdiction over the case. It does not post daily dockets online.
“Immigration courts are created by statute and regulation and are not Constitutional courts of public record. EOIR immigration judges conduct civil administrative proceedings. Therefore, our records procedures differ from those of an Article III court. EOIR’s immigration courts are open daily to the public, ” read the statement. “When courts are in detention facilities, however, visitors must work with the Department of Homeland Security in advance regarding security requirements for access to the building.”
A respondent may have “one or multiple hearings, depending on the complexities of the case.”
During the hearing, the immigration judge explains the respondent’s rights and the alleged immigration law violations and addresses representation. The immigration judge may also give the respondent the opportunity to “plead to the factual allegations and charge (s ) of removability.”
“The immigration judge may then determine removability and, if found removable and the respondent wishes to apply for protection or relief from removal, the immigration judge will schedule an individual merits hearing, during which both the respondent and the DHS attorney may present arguments and evidence related to the respondent’s application, ” read the statement from EOIR officials. “If the immigration judge finds the respondent eligible for protection or relief from removal, the judge is then able to grant the application.”
Once an immigration judge renders a decision on removability and eligibility for relief, the immigration court’s “responsibilities are complete, and the case transfers to DHS for subsequent detention, removal, or other action.”
Both parties have 30 days to appeal the decision.