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Donald Trump’s war on immigration has impacted all corners of the U.S., but now, immigration officials have targeted an isolated patch on Hawaii’s Big Island.
"Even cats and dogs have rights here and in the United States, and they're being treated better than some of our community members here," Armando Rodriguez, owner of Aloha Star Coffee Farms, told local station KITV.
According to several reports, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been targeting immigrant workers who harvest coffee in the district of South Kona. Coffee farming is lucrative in this area due to the nutrient-heavy volcanic slopes of Earth’s largest volcano, Mauna Loa.
Armando and Karina Rodrigues, founders of Aloha Star Coffee Farms in Hawaii, launched their initiative “Aloha Latinos Hawaii” to support Latin Americans looking for farming work in Hawaii, provide the opportunity to connect with other Latinos.
Yet, ICE agents have reportedly been conducting raids on the island in search of undocumented migrants since February, reports The New York Times.
It is unclear how many arrests have been made in the region.
The Independent contacted ICE for comment.
According to the 2024 U.S. census, just over 200,000 people live in Hawaii County, Hawaii, of which 11.9 percent are Hispanic and Latino residents.
Just last week, ICE agents lingered on the island for days in anticipation of making several arrests, reports The Times.
"I know they have a job to do. As long as you know that they're doing what they're saying that they're doing, coming after criminals, we're okay with that,” Rodriguez told KITV.
He explained that his initiative, Aloha Latinos, has focused on protecting civil rights for Hispanic residents who live with their families on the island.
Yet, many lives were now being torn apart because of the recent raids, he added.
"Our fear has turned into anger. A lot of communities are mad, they're creating angry people here,” he said.
The coffee harvest on the island has long been a vital industry for residents.
Aloha Star Farms says that nutrient-rich Kona coffee retails for over $30 for an eight-ounce bag. A combination of elevation, temperature, rainfall, and rich volcanic soil allows coffee farmers to grow high-quality coffee beans.
Thousands of immigrants from Latin America have handpicked the beans in the Kona fields for decades.
“It’s terrifying. People today are seeing their parents arrested right in front of them. Children are seeing their parents treated as criminals,” Kona Coffee farmer, Victoria Magana, told KITV.
ICE claims to have arrested 66,463 illegal aliens and removed 65,682 people from the U.S. in Trump’s first 100 days in office.
Meanwhile, dozens of family members belonging to Mexican cartel leaders were granted permission to cross into the US earlier this month, as part of a major deal between a cartel and the Trump administration, a Mexican official confirmed.
Neither Trump nor the DHS has disclosed the terms under which their access to the U.S. was granted.
The Independent contacted Armando Rodriguez for more details on the raids.
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