HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0516.064 2024-2026SIERRACLUB
HAWAI I ISLAND GROUP
October 22, 2025
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Hawai'i County Council
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25 Aupuni St.
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Hilo HI 96720
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74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway-
Kailua Kona HI 96740
Re: Support Resolution 320-25, Draft 1 (RES 320-25 D1) with recommended amendments
Aloha Chair Inaba and county council members,
The Sierra Club of Hawaii, Hawaii Island Group (HIG) supports RES 320-25 D1 with
recommended amendments.
HIG believes it is critically important for the resolution to clearly state the violations of
Constitutional rights and law being perpetrated by the Department of Homeland Security, its
agencies, and agents.
The recommended amendments are underlined:
WHEREAS, the First• Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution of the United
States and Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii guarantee fundamental
rights and liberties to all individuals, including the right to due process of law, equal protection
under the law, freedom of speech, religion, and assembly, and protection from unreasonable
searches and seizures, ensuring that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property
without appropriate legal procedures and safeguards; and
WHEREAS, in various incidents this year, over 170 U.S. citizens have been detained and held
for extended periods by ICE agents with some reporting being held incommunicado for over a
day without access to legal counsel or family and with a significant number of those citizens
detained being Latino and questioned about their citizenship status, and.
WHEREAS, reports of excessive force include citizens being tackled, beaten, and subiected to
unnecessary violence during arrests, such as when a citizen filming an ICE raid was violently
detained despite showing identification, and
Comm.
Ref. TO:
Ref. Date 2 2 2025
P O Box 1137 Hilo, HI 96721-1137 1 hawaiiislandsierraclub(a)gmail.com sierraclubhig.org
WHEREAS, excessive force incidents involving elected officials and community members have
raised concerns about the treatment of citizens duringICE CE operations, and
WHEREAS, there have been cases in which U.S. citizen children were deported without
consent, violatingtheir heir rights and causing significant distress to families and often resulting in
lawsuits beingfiled filed against ICE for these actions, thereby highlighting the lack of due process
and the agency's disregard for legal protocols.
HIG believes the addition of these WHEREAS clauses provide essential facts and justification
for the resolved clauses in RES 320 D 1.
Mahalo for this opportunity to testify.