The East-West Center is scheduled to host the inaugural Hawaiʻi Immigration & Inclusion Conference on Sept. 30.
The keynote speaker, Scott Nakagawa, grew up in Hawaiʻi and currently works on the continent as a political strategist. He has a long history of protecting the rights of minority groups as a civil and human rights activist.
The event will be taking place after news broke of an ICE raid in Texas left a Venezuelan man facing deportation with a bullet in his spine.
To learn more about the upcoming event, HPR spoke with two of its organizers, Ana Flores and Constancio Paranal III.
Flores is a fellow with The Legal Clinic, a Hawaiʻi-based immigration law nonprofit, and Paranal III is the co-director of the Hawaiʻi Coalition for Immigrant Rights.
Interview Highlights
On the reason for the conference
ANA FLORES: One out of 5 residents in Hawaiʻi are immigrants, and it's very important to make sure that they feel included and that their contributions are noticeable for everyone. There's no way the economy of the state could function without immigrants. If you look around at schools, the teachers, caregivers, people cleaning the offices, people serving at the restaurants, cooking at the restaurants of immigrant origin, they need to feel included and there's a huge need in the state to work on making sure the tools and the policies implemented to make sure they are included and that's the main reason why we have the conference.
On implementing legal protections for immigrants
FLORES: But still there's so much to do. The bills pass, but implementation now is the important next step. … And that's the reason why we have the second day of the conference. There's one bill, the TRUTH Act, that I really like because everyone has the right to an attorney, right? Everyone has the right for representation. And this bill makes sure that when people are detained, they get Miranda rights, right, as we always see in the movies. But it is important that they know what consequences they can have in terms of immigration when they are detained and when they get interviews with ICE agents, and what will trigger this. And it's important that they have this information in the language that they can understand.
On immigrants as part of Hawaiʻi's history and community
CONSTANCIO PARANAL III: Hawaiʻi has a long history with immigration, and that is what makes Hawaiʻi unique in many ways — in terms of how we take care of people, and just the makeup of, like what you said, the fabric of our society. Immigrants not only make up in terms of population, but really define what society is here in Hawaiʻi. And I think that long-standing relationship and history with immigration, our Indigenous background, if you will, practices, as well as our Pacific identity, contributes to what Hawaiʻi's society is. And I think what we're hoping as far as this conference is to determine what is next and where are we moving … How do we ensure that not only are we able to navigate the system, but we're able to reshape and influence the system in ways that would work for or benefit the community.
More information about the upcoming Hawaiʻi Immigration & Inclusion Conference can be found here.
This story aired on The Conversation on Sept. 23, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
