The document discusses alleged labor abuses in the Honolulu fishing industry and calls for greater legal protections for workers, many of whom are undocumented immigrants from Micronesia. It notes that complaints of discrimination against Micronesians make up less than 1% of cases filed with the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission. The document advocates for vigorously enforcing immigration and anti-discrimination laws to safeguard the rights and dignity of all people.

1. THE HAWAII FISHING INDUSTRY – WE ARE GOING TO THE HUKILAU
On Sep. 9, state Rep. Kaniela Ing, D-south Maui, sent a letter to state
Attorney General Douglas Chin asking for a legal opinion on the
alleged labor practices involving the Honolulu fishing industry.
“I am extremely alarmed by the recent reports of the gross
mistreatment of workers aboard American fishing vessels right here
in our Aloha State. Without any legal recourse, millions of
undocumented workers suffer through starvation wages and
inhumane work environments across America. It’s an issue too often
ignored by mainstream politics”.
Source: Pignataro, Anthony. Honolulu Fishing Crews Subjected to
Deplorable Working Conditions. Maui Time: News and Views. Vol.
20, Issue 14. September 15, 2016.
We totally agree. State Representative Ing, this matter is “an issue too often ignored by
mainstream politics”. The “alleged labor practices” are matters of established fact, well-known and
well-documented, that have been reported yet veiled and swept-under-the-rug by the “mainstream”.
"While murder is stalking abroad in disguise, while whippings and
lynchings and banishing have been visited upon unoffending
American citizens, the local administrations have been found
inadequate or unwilling to apply the proper corrective. Combinations,
darker than the night that hides them, conspiracies, wicked as the
worst of felons could devise, have gone unwhipped of justice.
Immunity is given to crime, and the records of public tribunals are
searched in vain for any evidence of effective redress."
Cong.Globe, 42d Cong, 1st Sess., 374 (1871) (remarks of Rep. Lowe).
[Footnote 36] Source: Cong. Globe, 42d Cong. 1st Sess., 374 (1871)
(remarks of United States Representative David P. Lowe from
Kansas) (quoted in Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U.S. 261 (1985) at 276.
Officials and agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security - Honolulu, Hawaii have and
continue to intentionally and purposefully justify and discriminate against fishermen working aboard
fishing vessels docking and making port in Hawaii by concentrating and giving priority on the war
against illegal drugs and the importation of contraband over abuses and maltreatment of fishermen.

2. The Legislative Intent of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, specifically,
Title I. Control Of Illegal Immigration. Part B. Improvement of Enforcement and Services, Section
115 states, in part,
It is the sense of the Congress that --
(1) the immigration laws of the United States should be enforced
vigorously and uniformly,
and
(2) in the enforcement of such laws, the Attorney General [United
States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the United States
Attorney for the District of Hawaii] shall take due and
deliberate actions necessary to safeguard the constitutional
rights, personal safety, and human dignity of United States
citizens and aliens. [Clarification Supplied]
Particularly significant is many of the fishing vessels dedicated to long line fishing are crewed
in majority by Micronesian fishermen. Micronesians in Hawaii are from the Republic of Palau, the
Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia (Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and
Kosrae). Individuals and families from these three nations came to the United States under an
agreement with the U.S. called the Compact of Free Association (COFA).
Officials and agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security – Honolulu have
personal and working knowledge of the working conditions aboard fishing vessels docking and
making port in Hawaii, particularly the Port of Honolulu. Their major concern and primary focus
are stopping the flow of contraband and illegal drugs by vessels docking and making port in Hawaii.
Pointedly and significant, a collaborative party to this miscarriage of justice is The Hawaii
Civil Rights Commission; officials and senior staff of the Commission having personal and working
knowledge of working conditions aboard fishing vessels docking and making port in Hawaii and
have and continue to act in concert, seamlessly, hand in glove, with officials and agents of the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security. The Honolulu the Hawaii Civils Rights Commission, through
its Executive Director and staff, have diligently dismissed and rejected meritorious Complaints filed
by fishermen working aboard these fishing vessels. These actions have and continue to deny these
individuals safeguards of their constitutional rights, their personal safety, and their human dignity as
United States citizens and aliens. Deportation of U.S. Department of Homeland Security –
Honolulu is the curtain call, the final act, to silence claims of Constitutional violations, jeopardy to
personal safety and trampling of their human dignity.
Public officials, state and federal, take solace that sovereign immunity insulates them from
suit in their personal capacity.

3. Title 18. United States Code. Section 242 makes it a crime for a person acting under color
of any law to willfully deprive a person of a right or privilege protected by the Constitution or laws
of the United States. Under “color of law” include acts not only done by federal, state, or local
officials within the their lawful authority, but also acts done beyond the bounds of that official's
lawful authority, if the acts are done while the official is purporting to or pretending to act in the
performance of his/her official duties. The offense is punishable by a range of imprisonment up to
a life term, or the death penalty, depending upon the circumstances of the crime, and the resulting
injury, if any.
Source: US Department of Justice. https://www.justice.gov/crt/deprivation-rights-under-color-law
HAWAII REVISED STATUTES CHAPTER 489
DISCRIMINATION IN PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS
§489-1. Purpose; construction.
(a) The purpose of this chapter is to protect the interests, rights, and privileges of all
persons within the State with regard to access and use of public accommodations by
prohibiting unfair discrimination.
(b) This chapter shall be liberally construed to further the purposes stated in
subsection (a). [L 1986, c 292, pt of §1]
§489-2. "Place of public accommodation" means a business, accommodation, refreshment,
entertainment, recreation, or transportation facility of any kind whose goods, services,
facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations are extended, offered, sold, or otherwise
made available to the general public as customers, clients, or visitors.
§489-7. No limitation on causes of action. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to
limit any cause of action based upon any unfair discriminatory practices for which a remedy
is available under state or federal law. [L 1986, c 292, pt of §1]
THE HAWAII CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION
“Even though they are allowed to live and work here, and even
though many are gainfully employed and paying taxes, and even
though they are entitled to some benefits, COFA citizens in the
islands are scapegoated as being a burden on health and human
services. That, said William Hoshijo [Executive Director] of the
Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, has resulted in ugly, vitriolic
rhetoric directed at Micronesians that exacerbates their experiences
with exclusion from housing, health and other services.”

4. “However, complaints about discrimination toward Micronesians
represented less than 1 percent of the total received by Hoshijo’s
office since 2010.”
[Clarification Supplied]
Blair, Chad. Micronesian Immigration an ‘Important Civil Rights’
Issue Facing Hawaii. Honolulu Civil Beat. August 20, 2015.
http://www.civilbeat.org/2015/08/micronesian-immigration-an-
important-civil-rights-issue-facing-hawaii/
Note, Supplied. From survey of fishermen, individuals and families
from the Micronesian community, there is a hesitancy and reluctance
to utilize the services of the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission due to
dismissals and rejections of Complaints and the onslaught of
retaliatory actions received by the filing of a complaint that have not
received due consideration and priority attention by the Commission.
In Hawaii a discrimination complaint can be filed with Hawaii Civil Rights Commission
(HCRC), or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The HCRC and EEOC
have work-sharing agreement where the agencies participate cooperatively in processing of
complaints. Filing a complaint with both agencies is not necessary. A Complainant can request that
the complaint be “cross-filed”.
DIRECTION FOR THE FUTURE
Words from H.E. Peter M. Christian, President of the Federated States of Micronesia,
“We need to be fair in our dealings. We must remember to be strong
and to be more fair to ourselves. This is our obligation. This is your
responsibility. I ask you to please do it well! In some instances our
strength of characters will be tested by inappropriate generosity by
unscrupulous players. I ask you to be strong. I ask you to continue
be innovative and creative, be willfully strong, and continue ways to
insure our most valuable asset can continue to be effectively useful
now and for the future. These are complex and difficult issues to
address to which I have no ready-packaged answer, but for which I
look to you for some resolution”. [Delivered at the 10th PNA
Ministerial Meeting in Pohnpei, June 11, 2015]

5. “The FSM Government also invites the external community to play a
much more active role in addressing the economic sustainability
issues.”
Source: Economic & Fiscal Update – March 2015 FSM Office of
Statistics, Budget & Economic Management, Overseas Development
Assistance and Compact Management, Palikir, Pohnpei.
For and behalf of the people of the Federated States of Micronesia, mutually and collectively
the States of Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae working, living, residing in Hawaii, and all fishermen
working aboard fishing vessels that provide us sustenance from the ocean and distant seas,
“We recognize that people are at the centre of sustainable
development and in this regard we strive for a world that is just,
equitable and inclusive, and we commit to work together to promote
sustained and inclusive economic growth, social development and
environmental protection and thereby to benefit all.”
“We acknowledge that democracy, good governance and the rule of
law, at the national and international levels, as well as an enabling
environment, are essential for sustainable development, including
sustained and inclusive economic growth, social development,
environmental protection and the eradication of poverty and hunger.
We reaffirm that to achieve our sustainable development goals we
need institutions at all levels that are effective, transparent,
accountable and democratic.”
Source: United Nations A/CONF.216/L.1 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 19
June 2012 http://www.fsmgov.org/rio20.pdf
America the beautiful. Land of the Free. Land of the brave. Where each person is provided a
choice of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Where our shores and borders are entry points
to those willing to accept and follow the American way of life. A place where opportunity is only
limited by one’s ability to dream big, plan well, work hard, smile always and receive good things.
We believe that with faith we are able to see the invisible, grasp the intangible and receive the
impossible. One Nation under God with Liberty and Justice for all.
--- Clifton M. Hasegawa, April 28, 2009