Latest news with #ArmandoRodriguez
The Independent
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Immigrants are being rounded up in Hawaii's coffee fields and being treated worse than ‘cats and dogs,' locals say
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.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
CISD Board of Trustees member served with lawsuit for removal
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Armando Rodriguez, a member of the Canutillo Independent School District's (CISD) Board of Trustees was served with a lawsuit last Friday, March 14, on his removal from the board, according to the citation. The citation says Rodriguez has 20 days from when the lawsuit was filed to respond with a written answer. As we previously reported, a group of local citizens filed a petition to have Ramirez removed from the board in May 2024, due to his previous arrest records of driving while intoxicated since his election into the board in 2005. Petition filed for removal of CISD Board of Trustees member The petition also stated that Rodriguez allegedly had his attorney try to expunge and clear his record so that the court records would be hard to find, according to court records. The petition also gave a timeline of Rodriguez's arrest, stating that his first arrest was in September 2013, his second arrest was in January 2015, and his third arrest was in December 2021. The petition also stated that after Rodrguez's third arrest, he was required to have DWI supervision and a camera ignition interlock device installed in any vehicle that he was currently driving, according to court records. Rodriguez shared a statement to KTSM after the petition was filed in 2024, which reads the following: 'The petition is a frivolous and meritless attempt by a sitting board member to attack my pro-public education stances. Ms. Breanne Barnes has asked her colleagues to file this ridiculous attempt at circumventing the people's vote so that she can continue to push school vouchers, faith-based education and other anti-public education initiatives. The group that filed the petition failed in their attempt to defeat the bond election and they are now resorting to theatrics to intimidate the district and reverse the will of the voters. It's my hope that an impartial judge will respect the electors that selected me to serve. I have been upfront about my legal issues and have worked to address them. I have not been convicted of any crime that merits my removal and I intend to continue to serve the children and taxpayers of Canutillo.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
