STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1546-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.B. No. 2057

S.D. 2

H.D. 2

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2057, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to prohibit law enforcement officers from:

(1) Using any personnel or funds originating in the State to assist or facilitate federal immigration agent conduct for purposes of civil immigration enforcement or that exceeds their law enforcement duty or authority; and

(2) Assisting or cooperating with or allowing resources to be used to facilitate federal immigration agents engaged in civil immigration enforcement operations or operations that target persons or entities engaged in certain activities.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Office of the Public Defender; State Health Planning and Development Agency; one member of the Hawaiʻi County Council; UNITE HERE Local 5; Community Alliance on Prisons; Imua Alliance; Mercado de la Raza; Kona Indivisible; Matriarchy Rising; The Legal Clinic; Roots Reborn; Hawaiʻi Coalition for Immigrant Rights; American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaiʻi; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from two individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the State of Hawaiʻi Organization of Police Officers.

Your Committee finds that certain federal immigration enforcement activities have raised serious concerns regarding the use of force, profiling, and detention practices. Your Committee further finds that the State has a compelling interest in ensuring that Hawaii's public safety institutions are not used to facilitate unlawful or unconstitutional conduct. This measure seeks to preserve the integrity and core public safety mission of state and local law enforcement by prohibiting law enforcement officers from engaging in specified conduct related to federal immigration enforcement.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that this measure does not prohibit the sharing of information in accordance with title 8 United States Code sections 1373 and 1644;

(2) Amending the definitions of "assist" and "facilitate" to clarify that the prohibited actions include assisting or facilitating operations that seek to identify, arrest, or impose any other criminal or civil penalty on a person or entity for activities protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2057, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2057, S.D. 2, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair