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Filipinos in Hawaii urged to get US citizenship amid Trump's immigration crackdown
For many years, becoming a US citizen didn't feel urgent for thousands of Filipino immigrants living in Hawaii. But with immigration crackdowns intensifying under the Trump administration, Filipino community leaders are urging eligible green card holders to apply for citizenship — sooner rather than later.
According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services, there are currently 27,320 Filipinos in Hawaii with green cards who are eligible to become naturalised US citizens.
"There's lot of eligible Filipinos for citizenship, but they haven't applied,' Andrea Caymo-Kauhanen, executive director of the Filipino Community Center in Hawaii, said in an interview with Filipino and Japanese journalists during a reporting tour sponsored by the US State Department.
While some Filipinos choose not to pursue citizenship out of contentment with permanent residency, Caymo-Kauhanen explained that cost is a major factor holding many back. She noted that the citizenship application is expensive, and could easily rack up to thousands of dollars even without additional costs like lawyers, among other reasons.
'Some of not confident enough, so they'll hire a lawyer, and that would double the price,' she noted. 'So it's cost-prohibitive, and sometimes it's very, very cumbersome because you have to submit so (many) documents.'
This concern has grown as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has increased its operations in Hawaii. Disturbingly, even individuals with legal status have reportedly been detained.
Filipino teachers detained
On May 6, teachers of Filipino descent were detained by ICE agents, despite the fact that they were either US citizens or legally working in Hawaii under J-1 visas.
According to a joint statement from 28 local organisations in Hawaii — including the Filipino Community Center — the incident involved armed agents entering homes and forcing families, including children, into the street. The residents requested to show legal documents such as passports and visas, but they were denied, and the group was held for nearly an hour.
'This abuse of power by the federal government not only impacts teachers or members of the Filipino community,' their joint statement on May 22 said. 'If left unchecked, these actions have a harmful effect on all professions, all groups, all ethnicities, all communities, all people.'
Caymo-Kauhanen confirmed that the teachers are now safe and in good condition, but said the emotional trauma remains. 'It's just that the whole ordeal that they have to go through is traumatizing."
Securing US citizenship
Incidents like these have prompted renewed calls for green card holders to secure their status through citizenship. While the process may seem costly and complicated, it could offer added protection in an increasingly uncertain environment.
'Before, I guess the reason why they're not applying is because it didn't matter so much,' she said of eligible Filipinos. 'You know, it's not really that critical, but given the current political climate that we have right now, it's safer for you to have that US passport.'
Still, not all eligible Filipinos feel compelled to make the change. One of them is a 63-year-old man from Pangasinan, who works as a busboy at a mall in Hawaii.
The man has been working in Hawaii for about two years and is married to a Filipina who is an American citizen.
When asked if he felt nervous amid recent incidents involving ICE agents, he said: 'No, because our marriage is not fake.'
'As long as you are a green card holder with no case, you have no problem,' he added.
He and his wife plan to retire in the Philippines, where they'll rely on their US pensions. For now, he's focused on meeting the minimum ten-year work requirement for Social Security benefits.
