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I teach at Kahului Elementary, where several Filipino nationals are also teaching legally.
I am disturbed that ICE agents, hiding their faces, didn't show a warrant to our teachers before entering their residence.
One teacher was just in a towel and wasn't allowed to put clothes on. Ripping women out of a home and pointing guns at their head when the agents said they were looking for a male suspect doesn't add up.
The fundamental principal of our legal system is innocent until proven guilty, but ICE is turning it into guilty until proven innocent.
Thankfully, the Filipino teachers weren't hauled off on misinformation, then taken on a plane to El Salvador prison like Kilmar Abrego Garcia, where he remains.
Mr. Garcia was denied his due process rights. Then to justify the wrongdoing, gang tattoos were photoshopped onto his skin and plastered all over social media.
Not only does our community have to worry about ICE mistakenly beating down their door without probable cause, they also have to be worried about racists impersonating ICE agents to steal or sexually assault minority women.
On Jan. 29, it was reported that a man in Raleigh, North Carolina, was accused of impersonating an ICE officer and sexually assaulting women he threatened to deport. This wasn't an isolated incident.
I am calling for legislation against hiding faces in arrest procedures to ensure arrests are legitimate, and a rapid response plan by Gov. Josh Green in case a citizen is taken out of the state without due process.
Justin Hughey
Wailuku