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FeedUndocumented
The state of illegal immigration in Hawaii.
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Jim Kosciuk, spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office in Honolulu, says, “We’ll encounter two or three cases of forged documents a week, and that’s not counting the instances when we refuse entry to people for other reasons, such as previous criminal records.”
Hawaii’s position in the middle of the Pacific Ocean rules out a lot of other options for anyone hoping to slip into the Islands. “I don’t recall any instances of people sneaking in via a boat, and I’ve been here for 12 years,” Kosciuk says. “We do routine harbor sweeps, from Ko Olina to Haleiwa, for any unannounced arrivals, but we just don’t get many private vessels showing up in Hawaii.”
Many foreign nationals come in on legitimate visas, and simply don’t leave when their visas expire. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services maintains records on all visa holders, but there’s no big red alarm that goes off when someone overstays their visit. Because of limited resources, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers concentrate on larger-scale violations and criminal activity that poses a threat to the general public. It’s easy for a well-behaved foreign national to fade into the woodwork.
Of course, fading might be easy, but trying to live a normal life without the legal identification U.S. citizens take for granted can be frustrating. It’s hard to put down roots and become a productive, contributing member of society when any brush with law enforcement, down to a simple traffic stop, can easily lead to deportation. Calleen Ching, an attorney from the Hawaii Immigrant Justice Center, says, “Without a Social Security number, you’re part of the permanent underclass. You can’t get a driver’s license, you can’t get a legitimate job, you can’t even get into the federal building without proper documentation.”
Traveling, in particular, is difficult and risky for those without valid identification—not only to the Mainland and to foreign destinations, but even interisland. Immigration attorney Clare Hanusz says, “I get a lot of calls from people who get arrested flying Neighbor Island. It used to be that the only requirement to board a plane was some form of valid identification that identifies you as the person with the ticket. Under the Real ID Act, TSA (Transportation Security Administration) is now playing immigration police. If I’m a Mexican national and I present a Mexican passport, which a year ago would have been fine, TSA is going to ask for my visa, and if I don’t have one, they’re going to call ICE or Customs and Border Patrol.”
One of Hanusz’s clients was picked up last year in just this way, while trying to fly back to Honduras to visit his ailing grandfather. Louis (not his real name) had been in Hawaii for just under 10 years, married a local girl and had two children (now 5 and 6 years old). But suddenly he was sitting in a federal detention center, facing a removal hearing.
Cases heard in immigration court are civil proceedings, not criminal, but the stakes are high and the odds terrible. Two out of three judgments result in removal from the U.S., either by deportation or voluntary departure.
Detainees don’t even get the opportunity to appear before a judge in person. They appear via a closed-circuit television setup. Because it’s a civil trial, aliens are not entitled to a public defender to help argue their cases. Local nonprofit Hawaii Immigrant Justice Center (formerly Na Loio) offers free legal representation to undocumented aliens, but it’s only able to take on a tiny percentage of the cases. In 2007, almost half of detainees went unrepresented by a lawyer in immigration court.
With the help of Hanusz, Louis was granted bond and a voluntary departure, and flew back to Honduras in October. He’s now living with family there, trying to figure out a way to return to Hawaii.
He and his wife, Stacy (not her real name either), have applied for an I-130 visa, which is available for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, but there’s an additional obstacle. Because he had been out of status in Hawaii for more than a year, federal immigration regulations bar him from returning to the U.S. for 10 years. It’s possible to apply for an exemption due to extreme hardship, but a favorable ruling is by no means guaranteed, and even in a best case scenario, Hanusz estimates it will likely be one to two years before Louis steps foot in Hawaii again.
“It’s been hard, big time,” says Stacy. “I have the kids and he’s not here to help me out with them. I lost my job last year, and we were struggling financially, and our home went into foreclosure. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Why risk all this? Why not enter the United States via legitimate channels?
It turns out to be a long, difficult process, and there are only two main ways to get on the path to legal status: family-based and employment-based. The latter generally requires an applicant to have a profession with a high level of skill, a high-level academic degree or a large chunk of cash to invest.
Many foreign nationals don’t qualify for either method, and will never be able to legitimately come to the U.S. “What people don’t understand is that if you’re poor and you have no immediate family members who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, for most people there is no legal way to come to the U.S.,” says Hanusz. “It’s not just a question of them deciding to cut the line. There’s no line for them.”
One thing that everyone seems to agree on is that the current state of affairs isn’t satisfying anyone. Local workers are being undercut on jobs, undocumented immigrants are being underpaid and exploited. The rest of Hawaii is picking up an estimated $9 million annual tab for social services to undocumented residents.
America was built by generations of immigrants, long before anyone started distinguishing between legal and illegal immigration. America was a better country for them than their old country, we were richer for accepting them and they were enriched by moving here. A lot of people confronting this issue today think there has got to be a way to get back to this ideal. As Chock says, “We’d like these workers to become members of our union, because I think these people are the future of our workforce.”
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Reader Comments:
Don't tell me that the people who are here legally on visas do not know when their visas will expire. When it expires, go home and re-apply. How hard is that?
They also HAVE to know that when they overstay their visa they are now here ILLEGALLY. Overstaying your visa is a voluntary act (unless of course you are unable to leave for some type of medical emergency or something...a coma). Because of the voluntary nature of this act, they also know the consequences. If they are voluntarily overstaying then they are also acknowledging the consequences if caught, and therefore should not complain when they are caught.
If they seek work on an overstay, even if they seek work while they are here on visa (visitors visa), they are really making a conscious effort to break the terms of their visa and our laws. These people are aware of what their visas allow once they get here, to assume they know any less would be an insult to their intelligence. This awareness of what their visa allows, and the voluntary nature of overstaying and/or seeking employment on a visa that does not allow this makes them scofflaws. Scofflaws should be dealt with appropriately. Deport, and let them figure out how to fix the mess of a situation they left behind, all because of their unwillingness to abide by the law.
In other words, they had a chance to abide, they willfully ignored this opportunity, they should be willing to accept the consequences.
Those who help or hire them should be held accountable as well.
As far as Dean Okimoto's comment. Rubbish! Latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics in Jan of 09 shows nearly 39,000 unemployed in Hawaii.
You think some of our local citizens might be interested? In fact, there are employment agencies who can supply "vetted" farm workers for about $10/hr. How hard is it for the farmers to make a call?
Dean says that it's hard to find someone to work in the hot sun for $8-$10/hr. That's a reflection on what guys like Dean are willing to pay them, not on the workers. To my knowledge, most local construction work takes place in the hot sun, they don't seem to be having trouble finding workers. Why??? Because they pay them a FAIR WAGE! If farming in Hawaii is that costly, then maybe Ag is not the most cost-effective industry for Hawaii. Hint: Del Monte, Dole, and others seemed to have figured this out a long time ago.
Nothing against local farmers, but come on, you see a speeding bus approaching the intersection where you are waiting to cross, and it doesn't look like the driver is paying attention. Do you cross the street anyway, just b/c the sign says walk? I mean, if you choose to ignore the obvious then the consequences should be your own to bear right?
Secondly, where farmers or others who actually partake in the morally bankrupt practice of hiring illegal workers always like to drum the mantra that the cost of farming is prohibitive and this is what drives them to seek "cheap" labor.
Let's say a farmer saves 20% by hiring illegal labor...Why isn't the head of lettuce in the supermarket, then 20% cheaper than the one grown with legal labor. Where does this savings on labor go? Into the farmers pocket, that's where. He may not be getting rich from it, but this savings is surely NOT passed down the line.
This is what makes this a morally bankrupt practice. The employers are ultimately exploiting "cheap illegal labor" to line their own pockets, NOT for any other reason.
Don't let Dean pull the wool over your eyes, by saying that "he doesn't condone, but understands." That's just a verbal "hedge" to try to show support for his constituents.
DEAN...WRONG IS WRONG...ILLEGAL IS ILLEGAL!
I wonder if Kobayashi from NaLoio would have the courage to face the 39,000 unemployed local citizens in our state on behalf of the estimated 35,000 illegal immigrants and say to them...
"It is ok, for unscrupulous employers to STEAL your jobs away, and give them to the illegal immigrants that I advocate on behalf of, while you [citizens] continue to be unemployed, struggle to put food on your families tables, pay your bills, and keep roofs over your families heads." "As citizens of this country, you should understand and sympathize and/or empathize, as most of your predecessors were immigrants at one time."
How do you think that would fly? Do you think she could, or would be able to do it?
Her position is crazy at best.
She says that HB643 is preempted by Federal law. She is an attorney? She needs to check again, HB 643 is a licensing bill. Licensing is solely within the power of the state. Feds can only bust those employers that are involved in the hiring or facilitating of "the scheme", like the managers at the Waipahu The Farms Inc. (owned by Larry Jefts) bust. Removing the offenders from the operation, but the company still survives on as long as key players in the operation cannot be linked to the crime so as to affect the companies survival.
HB 643 will have the effect of actually putting the offending company out of business in our state, period. If that company is determined to have INTENTIONALLY hired the illegal workers. Is that so bad? Why should these companies profit from shady business practices for the sake of their own bottom lines?
Harsh penalties should be dealt to the employers to make it very unattractive for them to engage in this practice. If companies under the threat of harsh penalties won't hire illegal workers, then the illegal workers will stop coming.
It is NOT too late for Hawaii as it is for states like California, Arizona, Texas, etc...
Further, Kobayashi tries to characterize the Bill as anti-immigration. Watch out, savvy lawyer at work here. It is NOT anti-immigration it is anti-ILLEGAL immigration, and MORE IMPORTANTLY anti-EMPLOYERS who hire illegal immigrants. She needs to take a closer look at the bill and worry less about raising negative public sentiment against the bill.
State laws that ostensibly regulate things like licensing but, in truth, are directed toward immigration regulation are (or at least a court should find) to be pre-empted by federal law, which is supreme on the matter of immigration. Duh.
When times get desperate, some people are always likely to get protectionist and hostile toward minority groups with less rights. Typical. The Illegal is Illegal attitude is just a cover for the more basic issue: I AM IN A POSITION OF POWER AND I DON'T WANT TO SHARE. All the rest is rubbish.
Sorry anonymous, but 'illegal' farm labor in Hawaii is a victimless crime. The local small farms would be all out of business because of razor thin profit margins based on the limited quantities of produce grown here. Small farms can't justify to go through the regular procedures and requirements. Would you pay triple the price for a local head of lettuce grown locally and harvested by a unionized, fair wage paid local laborer (if you can find one to do the hard work)? Nope. It needs the ingenuity and determination of a brave foreigner who knows how poverty tastes to come here and do the job. Our border guards and INS agents weed the 'weak' illegals out - always have. The strong ones have always built the foundation of American ingenuity and succeeded the odds. No other country can say that of itself.
Still don't see the point why most politicians tolerate this quietly and don't do the hard crack down all around Limbaugh style? So close all the small farms down in your view. Do the UAW thing where you rather run the whole town of Detroit into the ground before actually trying to understand who is the ignorant one here. Farm labor is the traditional entry way into the USA an we better acknowledge this because otherwise you'll be eating bland GMO foods harvested by machinery and nothing else if you don't plant it on your windowsill.