I have approached this topic in my head and on paper must be no less than 30 times. I am still not sure how to say what I feel needs to be said but here we go, my best shot:

Gov. Josh Green is letting the people of this state down and it is having a deeply ruinous effect on his public trust.

Since the Trump administration has taken over, they have made their top domestic priority combating illegal immigration. This, of course, is no surprise.

Since he stepped into the political arena, the president has made it clear that he was deeply troubled by the way immigration and the border were handled. He ran in 2024 on mass deportations. He was elected. Now, here comes the execution.

President Trump’s administration did decrease border crossings significantly in his first 100 days. However, the way deportations have been carried out has left much to be desired.

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For the purpose of this article, let’s talk about our state’s response to deportations and how our state leadership — specifically our governor — has left our immigrant community high and dry, while he panders for a future federal 2028 position, allegedly of course.

Since the new federal administration has come in, our immigrant community has been under direct assault. We have seen reports of the disappearance of a mother and her kids from a Kona coffee farm, with no details or access to counsel that they are guaranteed under the constitution.

Yes! The constitution applies to undocumented immigrants as well. If you sit and read through the constitution it applies to all persons in the territory of the United States of America.

Think a bit more critically: The constitution tells us how to deport and address illegal immigrants and, if not the constitution, the laws that the constitution has allowed for certainly do.

There is no reason that a Big Island teacher who was invited to come here to teach should be detained and harassed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. When confronted with these facts, our state leaders do the same quick song and dance of absolutely nothing.

The community knew this would be an issue early on. There were a few state immigration bills that the Legislature walked away from this past session. Multiple island police chiefs are committed to sticking with the story that they aren’t helping ICE. But if that is true, we can also assume they aren’t doing anything to challenge ICE either.

The governor has been back and forth to Washington, D.C., a few times. These trips to the nation’s capital have seemingly produced no statewide benefit. Yet it appears the state is paying for it. I think many of us would appreciate those resources going to help strengthen protections around our immigrant community.

The governor often runs from the title of politician. But, sir, as the state’s highest leader in the executive branch, we are begging you to do something!

Your communities are being terrorized by federal forces. Are we to believe you have no idea how ICE is moving in your state?

While immigration is in fact the jurisdiction of ICE, the State of Hawaiʻi is Gov. Green’s and I’m refusing to accept that he hasn’t a clue who, what and how federal forces are moving in his state.

If this is true, it leaves much more to be wanted for bold, tough, fearless, principled leadership. Our governor loves a good white board. Can we start getting updates from our Chief State Executive on ICE operations?

Also, can there be a collective push in state leadership to get answers from ICE about its rules for the general public? What does someone do if they are approached by someone claiming to be ICE in a mask or plain clothes? How far are observers to stand back from an active incident? How will that be identified for the safety of all parties? To what degree does ICE intend to follow due process in the State of Hawaiʻi? How much information, if any, are schools and medical facilities to give to ICE agents? Are we properly identifying an administrative vs a criminal warrant?

These are all questions our state leaders should be pushing to get the answers to at the bare minimum to keep the public aware and informed.

Many state leaders ran on being ready to stand up without backing down from federal threats. Yet the actions that have followed these statements and subsequent elections have not matched the same grit that was verbally expressed during the campaign season. And that is disappointing.

Common Cause and our partners look forward to standing in the gap as we wait for decisive leadership from the state. The ACLU of Hawaiʻi, the Coalition for Immigrant Rights, the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association, Rep. Jill Tokuda, and Rep. Jeanne Kapela are all amazing leaders in this state that have information and resources on ICE and your rights. I would highly recommend if you are interested in knowing more about immigration response reaching out to any of the previously identified organizations or leaders.