STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1459

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: S.B. No. 816

S.D. 2

H.D. 2

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 816, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DUE PROCESS PROTECTIONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish the Due Process in Immigration Proceedings Program to provide legal representation to individuals in immigration-related proceedings in immigration court.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Public Defender; Hawaiʻi State Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Plus Commission; one member of the Hawaiʻi County Council; Pride at Work - Hawaiʻi; Hawaiʻi Friends of Civil Rights; League of Women Voters of Hawaii; The Legal Clinic; Refugee & Immigration Law Clinic; Save Medicaid Hawaii; ACLU of Hawaiʻi; UNITE HERE Local 5; Hawaii State AFL-CIO; Hawaiʻi Coalition for Immigrant Rights; Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi; Af3irm Hawaiʻi; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from Hawaii Patriot Republicans; Hawaiian Islands Republican Women; and seven individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Judiciary and one individual.

Your Committee finds that many individuals in the State may be facing a complex and costly process of deportation or other immigration-related proceedings in the coming years. Often, these individuals do not have the resources, legal training, or language skills to properly respond in these proceedings. Your Committee further finds that the establishment of a Due Process in Immigration Proceedings program will provide immigrants who are residents of the State with the needed support to navigate the complex legal issues in immigration-related proceedings.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that the purpose of the Due Process in Immigration Proceedings Program shall be to provide legal representation to individuals residing in the State who are facing immigration-related proceedings; and

(2) 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. 816, 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. 816, S.D. 2, H.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair