Advocacy groups and lawmakers gathered to rally against President Donald Trump's tax bill outside the federal building in Honolulu on Thursday.
“This is a big bailout for billionaires paid for by yanking away health care, food, money, housing, jobs, education opportunities from hardworking American families, from keiki to kūpuna,” U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda said.
She warned that HR-1 would mean impacts to Hawaiʻi’s social safety net, like Medicaid and food stamps.
The new law also includes $170 billion of funding for immigration enforcement.
An advocate, Emily Cristobal, spoke out about her aunt, a legal U.S. resident and green-card holder, who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement but released in May.
“She was treated like a criminal, forced into yellow jumpsuits, enduring inhumane conditions,” she said.
“It was something my family and I had never imagined would happen to us, but it did. And that's the reality of the world that we're living in right now. And now we have this big, ugly bill that's set to dramatically increase federal spending on detention, deportation, and other immigration related measures.”
The Honolulu Federal Detention Center is one of three facilities approved to house more immigrant detainees following the increased funding from HR-1.
Nicole Woo from Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network Speaks! added that the new law also changed the eligibility for the federal child tax credit.
“It used to be any child who is a citizen and has a Social Security number gets the child tax credit. This new ugly law says that their parents also have to have a Social Security number,” she said.
“That means there are U.S. citizen children in Hawaiʻi whose families will no longer get the federal child tax credit that helps their parents pay their rent, pay for food, and all the other necessities.”
Woo said it will likely be up to state lawmakers to fill the gaps in the coming years, as many of the Medicaid and SNAP cuts go into effect in 2027.
