50 people were detained by federal officials last week on Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii island for breaking immigration laws after being convicted of offences like drug possession, domestic abuse, and murder.
Targeting “those with immigration violations,” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations Hawaii said in a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, collaborated with federal law enforcement partners.
County police departments and state law enforcement organisations were not involved in the operation, which ran through Thursday.
The names of individuals detained and a breakdown of the 50 arrests per island were not made public by federal officials.
With assistance from ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Coast Guard, ICE agents in Hawaii spearheaded the operation.
Among those detained, according to officials, were a Mexican national convicted of driving under the influence in 2011 and 2020 and a Vietnamese national convicted of second-degree murder in 2020 and 2015. On Thursday, details about the locations of their offences were not immediately made public.
ICE officers also reported that those who were “arrested or targeted” had been convicted of domestic violence, auto theft, homicide, theft, probation violations, drug possession, and weapons crimes. Details of the offences and the states where the convictions took place were not made public on Thursday.
“By leveraging the assets of federal partnerships with intelligence-driven investigations, we continue to fulfill our mission to disrupt and dismantle criminal enterprises across the Pacific, ” said Homeland Security Investigations Hawaii Special Agent in Charge Lucy Cabral-DeArmas in a statement to the Star-Advertiser. “We, and our partners, are committed to safer neighborhoods, stronger communities, holding bad actors accountable for their actions, and securing our borders.”
ICE will hold the detained individuals until they are deported from the United States.
After armed ICE officials carried out a search warrant at a Kahului home in search of a Mexican national who had not resided at the multifamily residence for more than a year, ten to twelve teachers on Maui were traumatised by one raid that ended without any arrests.
At approximately 6:15 a.m. on Tuesday, a dozen black-clad ICE officials with pistols drawn escorted the teachers—all but one of whom are Filipino—out of the house. The teachers work for the U.S. Department of State’s J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor Program.
As part of a cultural and educational exchange, competent foreign instructors can work lawfully in the United States under the J-1 program.
According to the Hawai ‘i State instructors Association, a U.S. citizen Maui teacher who was with the instructors during the raid consented to speak to the media on Thursday, but only if she stayed anonymous. She recounted a tumultuous scenario in which armed ICE officials surrounded the teachers after they were taken outside before they could get clothed.
According to the Maui teacher, some of the teachers were standing outside with their spouses and little children. One woman’s 10-year-old daughter sobbed in public, and another’s hair was still damp.
“The first thing that I said … was that I was a U.S. citizen and that we are all teachers here. … Can we show you some identification and proof that we are here legally ?” she said.
“They wouldn’t allow us to do so. I did not realize the reality. They were pounding on my window and door … with guns, and I am still lying there in my bed in my pajamas. I asked them for identification, and they rushed past me pointing guns at the other teachers.”
The teachers were instructed by the agents to jot down their names so that they could be radioed to other agents for background checks and clearance.
According to the Maui educator, an ICE officer “was taken aback and looked shocked and apologised to me several times” when she showed him her U.S. passport.
The residents of the Kahului home were “cooperative,” according to ICE officials, and officers were able to perform a search without any problems on Wednesday. Agents “briefly detained and interviewed” the residents before departing without making any arrests.
Additionally, they recorded immigration law enforcement operations in Wailuku, Makawao, Paia, Kihei, Kahului, and Lahaina.
For family members and others attempting to locate detainees, including little children, the Maui organisation is offering resources.
