ICE Raids J-1 Teachers’ residence
Teachers and their families are illegally detained in Kahului.
It is a very sad day in our County, State and Country when the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided the homes of our dedicated Filipino immigrant teachers who are here in the U.S. legally, at the invitation of the Hawai‘i State Department of Education (HIDOE) to teach our children. This unconstitutional act by ICE has now reached our shores here on Maui.
Various news outlets reported that on the very early morning of May 6, 2025, several immigrant Filipino teachers on Maui were detained and interrogated by ICE. According to HIDOE these dedicated Filipino teachers were employed at different Maui public schools and a majority of them are in Central Maui.
These immigrant teachers are employed through the U.S. Department of State’s J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor Program, which allows highly qualified educators such as Filipinos to work in the U.S. legally as part of a cultural and educational exchange. And yes, they are legally here at the behest of our government with specialized skills needed to educate our children.
The Hawai‘i State Teachers Association that represents the teachers issued a statement saying, “It is very disturbed and concerned about how these Maui teachers were treated.” Immediately after the unlawful raid by ICE, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz released a scathing statement, saying the raid and interrogation of our innocent Filipino teachers is “outrageous.” In Senator Schatz’s statement he says, “This is a racial profiling and shameful abuse of power.
We are a nation of laws, but the broad ICE raids this week are clearly designed just to instill fear. Our teachers, our visitors and our neighbors deserve dignity and safety, not fear of seemingly arbitrary harassment.” Hawai‘i U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono also issued a statement denouncing the ICE recent raid on the Filipino immigrant teachers. In Senator Hirono’s statement, “Despite these teachers being here legally in our country, the teachers were detained by Homeland Security and interrogated before being allowed to go about their business. That is called terrorizing people, plain and simple.”
It was reported that during the raid by ICE, guns were pointed by the agents and left innocent Filipino teachers and their kids shaking and crying and petrified. All this could have been easily avoided if ICE had done their homework before terrorizing and inflicting unnecessary fear and trauma on innocent teachers who are here to teach our Maui keiki.
This kind of unchecked power of our government led by an authoritarian leader without regard to our constitution and due process is very dangerous and divisive. We should all be appalled and concerned about this unchecked and undemocratic power of our federal government. The Fil-Am Voice strongly encourages our fellow citizens to be on guard and speak up for a fair and a just government by consistent with our values and our constitution.
Call our reresentatives in Congress to express your viewpoint. Always remember that many who served in the U.S. Armed Forces died to protect our freedom and the constitution that we all enjoy today. May we be a country which takes care of our people with much love and compassion.
May God Bless us all!
