Local attorneys and advocates are reaching out to help immigrants worried about their future under the new president, with a workshop to be held this evening.
“The phone has been ringing off the hook,” immigration attorney John Egan said Tuesday. “People have been showing up at the door unannounced. Even people who are longtime green card holders are worried that somehow this is going to affect them.”
Know your rights workshop
>> What: Free workshop for immigrants, families and friends
>> When: 6:30-8 p.m. today
>> Who: Immigration lawyer John Egan and ACLU Legal Director Mateo Caballero
>> Program: How to preserve family safety, deal with immigration enforcement, and be an ally if someone is harassed.
>> Where: Harris United Methodist Church, 20 S. Vineyard Blvd.
A “Know Your Rights” workshop for immigrants, relatives and friends will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Harris United Methodist Church. The event is sponsored by the Hawaii Coalition for Immigrant Rights, Faith Action for Community Equity, Catholic Charities Hawaii and others.
Egan and Mateo Caballero, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, will speak at the workshop, offering information on how to preserve family safety, deal with immigration enforcement, and be an ally if someone is harassed.
Caballero said similar workshops on Maui and Hawaii island in December were “very well attended.”
“There clearly is a lot of anxiety from the immigrant population,” Caballero said. “At the time, there was just complete uncertainty. Since yesterday, now we know a little bit better and it looks like there is going to be a lot more enforcement.”
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump issued executive orders cracking down on unauthorized immigrants, including a threat to cut off federal funds to “sanctuary cities” whose law enforcement officers don’t cooperate with federal immigration officials. During the campaign, Trump also vowed to end a program that helped unauthorized immigrants who arrived as children.
Trump’s action Wednesday did not address the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.
Launched in 2012, DACA gave young people up to age 30 a temporary reprieve from deportation if they had arrived in the country as children and lived here for more than five years. It allowed them, under certain conditions, to continue studying or working in the country.
On Nov. 21, more than 600 college and university presidents, including UH President David Lassner, issued a statement calling for the continuation of the program.
More recently, he reaffirmed the university’s support for all its students, including those who might have arrived here as children without papers.
“The University of Hawaii is steadfast in our commitment to serve all members of our community, regardless of citizenship status,” Lassner said in a statement Dec. 29 to the school community.
“Our undocumented students are an integral part of our community and will continue to be extended all the rights, privileges and services available to our students, from application through graduation.”
UH spokesman Dan Meisenzahl said Thursday fewer than 20 undocumented students are enrolled, out of 49,000 students statewide in the UH system. The Board of Regents voted to allow undocumented students to pay resident tuition rates more than three years ago.
As of last June, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had accepted 405 DACA applications from Hawaii residents, up to age 30. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that 2,000 people in this state would be eligible for DACA.
Lassner dismissed the notion of a “sanctuary campus,” saying that “such a designation has no clear definition nor any legal significance.” Unlike municipalities and some university campuses, UH does not have its own law enforcement force.
“UH security staff are not sworn officers of the law,” Lassner said. “They do not and will not enforce immigration laws, which are the purview of the federal government.”
“We will afford our undocumented students protections under all applicable laws,” he added. “UH will not voluntarily support efforts to deport our students based solely on their immigration status.”
One student at UH-Manoa lambasted the university’s stance regarding immigrants in an opinion piece posted Tuesday on the website of Ka Leo O Hawaii, the campus newspaper. He accused Lassner of “spreading and enforcing his own political beliefs.”
“Essentially, UH Manoa will shelter criminals,” wrote Eric Edghill, a senior. “There is no such thing as an ‘undocumented immigrant.’ If someone enters and lives in this country without documentation, then they are criminals.”
But Egan, the attorney, said the term “criminal” is neither appropriate nor accurate.
“Entering the country illegally is a civil offense, not a criminal offense,” he said. “It is part and parcel of the anti-immigration movement to overstate that intentionally in order to create the idea that these people have done something terrible by coming here.”
“Obviously they have broken the law,” Egan said. “But that doesn’t make them criminal any more than it makes you a criminal to get back to your parking meter 10 minutes after it expires. You definitely broke the law and there’s a penalty, but doing so does not make you a criminal.”
Egan said Trump’s tough talk has prompted some permanent residents with “green cards” to begin the process of becoming a citizen.
“We’ve had quite a number of people who are longtime green card holders who are now saying, can I sign up for citizenship?” he said. “If anything positive is coming out of this, it’s motivating many people to make that final push for citizenship.”
