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Senate committees recommend passage of immigration‑policy package limiting local cooperation with federal enforcement
Summary
After extensive testimony from civil‑rights and immigrant‑advocacy groups, the Senate committees recommended passing a package of bills (HB1768, HB1839, HB1886, HB2540) that would restrict or clarify local agencies’ participation in federal immigration enforcement, add notice and language‑access protections for detained individuals, and require transparency on local policies; committees adopted amendments and revised effective dates.
Senate committees on March 23 advanced a package of immigration bills aimed at restricting local participation in federal civil immigration enforcement and improving safeguards for people in custody.
HB1768 would prohibit state and county law‑enforcement agencies and officials from entering into agreements that deputize local actors to carry out immigration enforcement. Leilani Stacy, immigrants‑rights attorney at the ACLU of Hawaii, told senators Hawaii historically has not had 287(g)-style agreements and that the bill would preserve community trust by keeping immigration enforcement at the federal level. "Hawaii is one of 11 states in the entire country that has no existing 287G agreements...We think that's important to keep our communities here at home safe," Stacy said.
Advocates described national trends of rapidly expanding deputization and said the bills are intended to prevent local resources from being diverted into civil immigration enforcement that can chill 911 calls and community cooperation with policing. Liza Ryan Gill of the Hawaii Coalition for Immigrant Rights emphasized language access and said some chiefs of police had expressed concerns about unfunded mandates; the advocates said they had been consulting chiefs and offered low‑burden translations and administrative fixes to address those concerns.
HB1839 would require law‑enforcement agencies to notify individuals in local custody of their rights before interviews by federal immigration authorities and to treat records of such interactions as public records; supporters said the bill would guard against expedited removals and ensure informed consent, including language access and juvenile protections.
HB1886 and HB2540 contain companion provisions focused on non‑cooperation, prohibiting anonymous federal mass enforcement in some contexts, requiring visible identification of federal agents and directing agencies to post civil‑immigration enforcement policies publicly. Executive Director Salma Yasmin Rizvi of ACLU Hawaii framed the bills as reaffirming anti‑commandeering principles and demanding accountability: "Anonymous enforcement is not about safety. It is about shielding power from accountability," she said.
Committee discussion included repeated questions about whether local law enforcement would still be able to cooperate in criminal investigations (FBI, DEA, human‑trafficking investigations) and how the bills would affect longstanding memoranda of understanding. Witnesses and committee members repeatedly clarified the bills do not prevent federal agents from executing valid judicial warrants and stressed the bills target proactive deputization and civil immigration enforcement, not criminal collaborations.
After extended testimony and Q&A, the committees recommended passing the immigration measures with amendments (including attorney‑general edits and revised effective dates) and recorded recommendations in a decision session. Committee records show the chair and vice chairs voted to recommend passage with amendments; several members registered no or reservations in the committee votes.
Next steps: committee reports will reflect the adopted amendments and revised effective dates before the measures move to subsequent legislative stages.
