10+ Maui teachers detained, questioned in erroneous federal immigration raid

A Maui teacher went public Thursday with the harrowing story of gun-toting federal agents waking her and about 10 public school teachers here on non-immigrant visas early Tuesday morning and detaining them for at least 45 minutes in a raid searching for a man who apparently hadn’t lived in the home for more than a year.

The teacher is a U.S. citizen who requested anonymity to protect her identity and the names of her educator colleagues who suffered through what she called an “overwhelming and traumatic” situation. She lives in a multi-family dwelling with about 10 other teachers from the Philippines working in various public schools on Maui under the federal governmentʻs J1 visa program. The program allows people from other countries to participate in cultural exchanges in the U.S. for up to five years.

During a Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association news conference on Thursday afternoon, the teacher said, “At 6:15 Tuesday morning, I woke up to agents dressed in black with guns outside of my window pounding on the door, saying to open up and that they had a warrant.”

She asked the Homeland Security Investigations special agents for identification, but “Then they rushed past me, pointing guns at the other fellow teachers that lived upstairs, telling me that they had a search warrant and they were looking for a convicted felon.”

“There were teachers out there [outside the house] who had wet hair. Half the teachers were dressed. Half the teachers were not. There were people there with blankets on because they didn’t have the appropriate time to put on clothing,” she told reporters.

“It was very upsetting to me to go downstairs and see the wet hair, the blankets, the pajamas. It was heartbreaking,” she added.

There were about a dozen federal agents with guns and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) logos on their clothes outside the home and on the street, she said.

“The first thing I said when they brought me down to the front was that I was a U.S. citizen, and that we are all teachers here and family members of teachers. Can we show you some identification and proof that we are here legally? They wouldn’t allow me to do so, and said that they needed to get everyone’s names down to double-check to see if the person they were looking for was here,” she recalled.

“I could have pressed further, but part of me was afraid to be separated from the rest of them, because I wanted to be an advocate and support for them, and that meant a lot to me to be able to do so, because I just wanted to make sure nothing happened to the other teachers,” the teacher said.

“I began to notice some of the people around me were shaking, and that one of the teacherʻs daughters, who was in front was crying, and I was really concerned, so I asked again, gently, if we could show them documentation to prove our identity, and once again, I was told no. By then, a considerable time had passed, and one of the teachers asked if we could notify our principal, because it was getting close to the beginning of the school day and they would need to get substitute teachers for us if we missed school.”

Once the agents determined the man they were searching for was not on the property, they allowed the teachers and their families to go, and the educators rushed to their schools before classes began, since they had been detained for more than 45 minutes.

When she returned home after school on Tuesday, the teacher said she asked her landlord if the law enforcement officers had shown her a search warrant.

“She told me they provided a search warrant, but after the fact, and she said that they were looking for a Hispanic man who had lived there over a year ago,” but no longer lived there, the teacher told reporters.

“But when they were searching the house, and then when I was out front with them, I did repeatedly say to them that, you know, we are teachers, they have proof of identification, that they’re legally here in the United States, and I am a citizen as well. Can we please show you our documentation? Because the person you’re looking for, I do not think, is here,” the teacher said.

She told reporters, “The whole situation was really overwhelming and traumatic for all of us, but I felt the need to speak out, because I felt it could have been handled better, and I really do not want to see that happen again with teachers who are here to help our children who are here legally as well.”

HSTA President Osa Tui, Jr. said, “As more information came to light, the details were quite distressing. ICE put out a statement that gave the impression that they just went in, did a little search, and left. What was lacking was any remorse for the trauma that these educators were subjected to. When you were a student and did something really bad, at minimum, you had to apologize. In this case, with educators roused from their beds at gunpoint, there was no public apology for the harm that was done.”

Tui said that “across the country and now here in these communities, our government is not doing their homework and doing sloppy work which jeopardizes lives and the well-being of those who live here.”

“We’re concerned that, if this was a mistake, what other mistakes are being made or will be made affecting other innocent people,” he said.

“This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, and we appreciate all that our teachers do for our students, but we do not appreciate how this situation was handled, and we expect more from these federal agencies,” Tui added.

In a speech on the Senate floor Thursday, U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D, Hawaiʻi) denounced President Donald Trump’s immigration directives, saying the U.S. Department of Homeland Security terrorized Maui teachers during Tuesday’s raid.

“Just this week, Homeland Security agents terrorized a group of teachers from the Philippines, living and working on Maui. They were invited to come to Maui to teach in our schools for a period of time. And despite these teachers being here legally in our country, the teachers were detained by Homeland Security and integrated before being allowed to go about their business.”

“That is called terrorizing people, plain and simple. So instead of supporting teachers, Trump is making it even harder for them to do their jobs, and our children will be the ones stuck paying the price,” Hirono added.

In a statement, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), said, “The reported interrogation and efforts to detain Filipino teachers in their home on Maui by ICE agents is outrageous. This is racial profiling and a shameful abuse of power. We are a nation of laws, but the broad ICE raids this week are clearly designed just to instill fear.”

“Our teachers, our visitors, and our neighbors deserve dignity and safety, not fear of seemingly arbitrary harassment,” Schatz added.

The Maui teacher concluded by saying, “I wanted to take some time to thank you for the outpouring of support from the community. I really just wanted to say thank you to those congressional representatives, the HSTA union, the DOE, and just concerned citizens and teachers who reached out to us to continue to give thanks and their support.”