Federal agents served search warrants, detained and arrested more than two dozen people in Kona on suspicion of immigration law violations, and detained a group of Maui teachers from the Philippines as part of an ongoing effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to deport illegal aliens.
Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations participated in the sweep Tuesday and Wednesday after making informal visits in March.
ICE officials did not immediately reply to Star-Advertiser questions about the Kona operation or how many recent immigration arrests have happened in Hawaii.
Federal agents use “statutory law enforcement authority” to identify and arrest aliens who may present “threats to national security or public safety, or who otherwise undermine the integrity of U.S. immigration laws,” according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
ICE most commonly arrests immigration violators with convictions involving DUI, drug possession, assault and criminal (non-civil) traffic offenses such as hit-and-run or leaving the scene of an accident.
Federal agents say they use “targeted, intelligence-driven operations to prioritize its enforcement actions.”
In the current fiscal year, 561 immigration arrests by Dec. 31 have occurred in ICE’s San Francisco Area of Responsibility, which includes the state of Hawaii. Statistics for Hawaii were not immediately available.
Of those arrested during that time, 517 were removed from the country.
The U.S. is divided into 25 areas of responsibility policed by immigration enforcement agents.
On Tuesday on Maui, a group of international teachers from the Philippines was detained by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Kahului. They were not arrested.
Homeland Security Investigations officials in Hawaii told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that agents “executed a federal search warrant in Maui that was issued by a federal judge related to an immigration investigation.”
“The occupants of the location were cooperative and HSI was able to conduct its search without interference or any impediment. For the safety of the agents and the occupants, residents of the home were briefly detained and interviewed in addition to the search,” read the statement from HSI. “At the conclusion of the search, HSI special agents left the location without any arrests made.”
Social media posts about the detention of the teachers went viral Wednesday.
Nanea Ching, communications director for the Hawaii Department of Education told the Star-Advertiser the state is “aware of an incident involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at a private residence housing several of our international teachers on Maui.”
“All of the teachers are safe and accounted for, and we understand the situation was resolved on site with no arrests made. We want to emphasize that our international teachers are employed through the U.S. Department of State’s J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor Program, which allows qualified educators from other countries to work in the U.S. legally as part of a cultural and educational exchange,” said Kalani. “We are in contact with the affected employees and are coordinating with the program sponsor to ensure they are supported.”
The Maui incident angered U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz who labeled the detention an “outrageous abuse of power.”
“The reported interrogation and efforts to detain Filipino teachers in their home on Maui by ICE agents is outrageous. This is racial profiling and a shameful abuse of power. We are a nation of laws, but the broad ICE raids this week are clearly designed just to instill fear,” said Schatz, in a statement. “Our teachers, our visitors, and our neighbors deserve dignity and safety, not fear of seemingly arbitrary harassment.”
Schatz’s office is in contact with the state to offer assistance to teachers affected by the raid.
Chuck Freedman, co-founder of Allies In Resistance, went to a location in Kaimuki Tuesday allegedly raided by ICE agents, but the agents had left before he got there.
“Allies in Resistance is actively gathering information about ICE raids in Hawaii and sharing it on the groups social media feeds. The group documented immigration law enforcement activity by federal law enforcement on Monday and Tuesday on Maui at Honokowai Plantation, Kahele Apartments, ABC Stores, Panda Express, and Walgreens. The group documented immigration. Law enforcement activity in Lahaina, Makawao, Paia, Kihei, Kahului and Wailuku. The group is providing resources to family members and others trying to track detainees that include minor children,” the group said.
Freedman told the Star-Advertiser that his group has heard “numerous accounts of surprise ICE raids on residents across Hawaii with no accounting for the agents’ actions.”
“This creates an unfounded climate of vengeance and fear which is wrong anywhere in America, especially Hawaii where we hold tolerance in the highest esteem,” said Freedman. “ICE must explain itself fully and desist from actions which on their face are deplorable and executed in darkness.”
ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations officers enforce “immigration laws within the interior to preserve national security and public safety,” according to DHS.
ERO manages all aspects of the immigration enforcement process, including the “identification, arrest, detention and removal of aliens” who are subject to removal or are unlawfully present in the U.S.
In January, eight people were arrested on Oahu and are facing removal for violating U.S. immigration laws.
