STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3782

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1768

H.D. 1

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1768, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO IMMIGRATION,"

begs 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 Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Public Defender; Office of Hawaiian Affairs; UNITE HERE! Local 5; Roots Reborn; Imua Alliance; The Legal Clinic; Hawaii Filipino Lawyers Association; Hawaiʻi Coalition for Immigrant Rights; Fujiwara & Rosenbaum, LLLC; ACLU Hawaiʻi; and forty-four individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that entanglement between local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement erodes trust in government institutions and undermines public safety for the entire community. This measure will affirm the State's longstanding commitment to equal protection, dignity, and public safety by clearly delineating the appropriate boundaries between state and county law enforcement agencies and federal immigration enforcement authorities.

Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting language specifying that the prohibitions against certain actions and agreements established by this measure shall not be construed as prohibiting or restricting any state or county law enforcement agency or any law enforcement official from acting in accordance with title 8 United States Code sections 1373 and 1644.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1768, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1768, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair