STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3228

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1768

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1768, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO IMMIGRATION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Prohibit any law enforcement agency or law enforcement official from entering into an agreement under federal law that permits state or county agencies to engage in immigration enforcement; and

(2) Prohibit law enforcement agencies and law enforcement officials from engaging in certain immigration-related actions, except under limited circumstances.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Pride at Work - Hawaiʻi, Kona Indivisible, Aloha Independent Living Hawaii, ACLU Hawaiʻi, Roots Reborn, The Legal Clinic, League of Women Voters of Hawaii, Hawaiʻi Coalition for Immigrant Rights, and forty-five individuals.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from two individuals.

Your Committees find that when state and county agencies lend personnel, data, facilities, or credibility to federal operations, they also absorb many of the consequences of the federal operations, including civil liability, erosion of community trust, and complicity in actions that violate constitutional norms. Importantly, while the federal government may enforce federal law, it cannot compel states to use their resources or officers to do so. On no issue is this more important than immigration enforcement, which is governed by shifting priorities that state governments neither control nor supervise. When states entangle themselves in federal immigration efforts, they surrender authority over how their residents are policed while remaining legally liable and morally culpable for the outcomes. This measure ensures that the State retains authority over its resources and personnel and prevents it from being implicated in federal misconduct.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2055, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1768, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1768, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs,

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair

________________________________ CAROL FUKUNAGA, Chair