11-25-2025, 10:37 PM
those of a "swarthy" complexion
Which often are coffee pickers on Big Island, often Latino farm workers from Honduras.
ICE agents now have the legal cover to stop, question, and detain people based on appearance, language, accent, workplace, or any other marker that “looks suspicious” to them. In other words, the Court just gave its blessing to racial profiling on a massive scale—and they did it without a full briefing or hearing and without explaining their reasoning.
This is not just about undocumented immigrants. This is about every Latino in this country—citizen, resident, or otherwise—who now has to wonder if going to work, speaking Spanish, or standing outside a Home Depot makes them a target.
https://www.aclu-wi.org/news/scotus-just...-outraged/
Imagine you are a coffee picker who travels to Big Island for work. You need to spend money on an airline ticket, turn down other work, go through TSA, and possibly get pulled aside “legally” because you look darker than “normal”. You’re temporarily thrown in a detention camp until ICE sorts our that you are a legal citizen or a green card holder or in the H-2A program, but now you’ve missed your flight, and may or may not have money for another plane ticket. And who wants to chance going through that a second time? Because the next time ICE may shackle you, put you on a plane to who knows where, and the government will claim they have no ability to get you back. You’re not a criminal, just a guy who wants a job most residents on Big Island won’t do. Which is why coffee cherries are unpicked on Hawaii coffee trees.
Which often are coffee pickers on Big Island, often Latino farm workers from Honduras.
ICE agents now have the legal cover to stop, question, and detain people based on appearance, language, accent, workplace, or any other marker that “looks suspicious” to them. In other words, the Court just gave its blessing to racial profiling on a massive scale—and they did it without a full briefing or hearing and without explaining their reasoning.
This is not just about undocumented immigrants. This is about every Latino in this country—citizen, resident, or otherwise—who now has to wonder if going to work, speaking Spanish, or standing outside a Home Depot makes them a target.
https://www.aclu-wi.org/news/scotus-just...-outraged/
Imagine you are a coffee picker who travels to Big Island for work. You need to spend money on an airline ticket, turn down other work, go through TSA, and possibly get pulled aside “legally” because you look darker than “normal”. You’re temporarily thrown in a detention camp until ICE sorts our that you are a legal citizen or a green card holder or in the H-2A program, but now you’ve missed your flight, and may or may not have money for another plane ticket. And who wants to chance going through that a second time? Because the next time ICE may shackle you, put you on a plane to who knows where, and the government will claim they have no ability to get you back. You’re not a criminal, just a guy who wants a job most residents on Big Island won’t do. Which is why coffee cherries are unpicked on Hawaii coffee trees.