State lawmakers are looking at ways to better define how the National Guard can be mobilized in Hawaiʻi.
This comes after President Donald Trump activated the National Guard in California in June without the governor's consent, due to protests against immigration enforcement.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is challenging those orders in an ongoing federal lawsuit.
Hawaiʻi Department of Defense Staff Judge Advocate Lt. Col. Lloyd Phelps told lawmakers during a House Public Safety informational briefing that if the National Guard were to be mobilized in Hawaiʻi, it would be a decision by Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green.
Green joined 21 other governors in criticizing Trump's response to the immigration protests in California.
House Public Safety Committee Chair Della Au Belatti suggested that the state look into laws that could better clarify how guard members can be used in the state.
“ I also think we need to look at laws that will spell out the policy of the state as well as an act that will enable individual actors to make choices that are also lawful,” she said. “I think the more supportive state laws that spell out what our values are will be important in the years and the actions ahead of us.”
Hawaiʻi Attorney General Anne Lopez agreed that it was something to look into, but added that lawmakers should be vigilant when crafting these types of laws.
“They have made it clear, they being the Trump administration, that they will retaliate and they will threaten loss of funds. They will threaten lawsuits,” she said.
“I'm not saying we should back down. I'm saying there's a balance that the Legislature will want to think about when you make those considerations. How much retaliation can we afford financially? Where do we draw that line? And then how do we fashion or wordsmith the laws that you want to create?”
Lopez's office has filed several lawsuits against the Trump administration in conjunction with other states to block executive orders.
