HONOLULU >> Attorneys from the Hawai’i chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union told students, faculty, and community members at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa that knowing their civil liberties is more crucial than ever, warning that extreme federal enforcement trends might reach the islands.
“I’d say it’s impossible to exercise your rights if you don’t know what they are first,” said Emily Hill, the senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Hawai’i. “If people aren’t exercising their rights… then they’re kind of giving them up without a fight.”
The presentation on Oct. 1 came against the backdrop of a 585% increase in immigration-related arrests between Jan. 20, 2025 — the inauguration of President Donald Trump — and June, according to the Deportation Data Project by the University of California, Berkeley.
ACLU attorneys said that the surge shows how aggressive policy shifts could affect Hawai’i.
Learning the difference between an administrative warrant — a document which allows law enforcement agencies to detain unspecified individuals — and a judicial warrant — signed by a judge or magistrate which allows law enforcement to enter dwellings and gather evidence related to a specific individual — could spell the difference between a safe encounter and a dangerous one.
Leilani Stacy, an immigration rights attorney from the ACLU, said fear and confusion in immigrant communities are real but can also offer resilience.
Even people stepping in and filming an ICE arrest on a phone can help to keep the immigration enforcement accountable for their actions.
“Sometimes it’s not possible to stop enforcement action,” she said, “but there’s so much humanity and agency that’s brought to people just by being present there and recording what’s happening or just like being a body there and helping them through what could be the most difficult moment in their life.”
Stacy added that the threat isn’t limited to immigration, pointing to what she described as broader attacks on free speech and everyday encounters with law enforcement like DUI checkpoints.
While Hawai‘i has not yet seen large-scale immigration raids like those on the mainland, Hill said federal policies such as “mandatory detention” — a method of detainment for certain non-citizens where they can be held without bond before the deportation process begins – could still surface.
“Because it’s a federal policy,” she warned, “it’s absolutely possible it could manifest here.”