HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) — The first-ever Hawaii Immigration & Inclusion Conference takes place on Sept. 30 at the East-West Center, bringing together hundreds of local and national immigrant- and migrant-serving organizations.
Constancio Paranal III, Co-Executive Director of the Hawaii Coalition for Immigrant Rights (HCIR), Andrew Rozhok, HCIR Policy Specialist, and Tina Sablan, Policy Manager of The Legal Clinic, joined HNN’s Sunrise to talk about the upcoming event.
Organizers say the historic event aims to build a stronger support ecosystem, share successful strategies, and establish a baseline to measure progress in the community year over year.
“Well, myself, I’m a pretty fresh immigrant because I’m from Ukraine originally, and I’m a refugee since the full invasion started in Ukraine,” Rozhok said. ”And I came here four years ago and started building my life from the beginning. And I do see a lot of immigration movements here in Hawaii, how many immigrants are here, and how they work together to build communities, stay safe, and gather together. It’s really important here as well.”
The conference will feature a keynote address, plenaries, and six breakout sessions exploring both the challenges and opportunities facing local immigrant and migrant communities. One key session, “Climate Justice, Migration & Indigenous Futures,” will examine the intersections of climate change, migration, cultural survival, and Indigenous sovereignty.
“We want [national organizations] to truly understand our ecosystem and also how we organize when dealing with issues surrounding immigration and inclusion but also give our local organizations the opportunity to be a part of the national conversations, given our long history with immigration,” Paranal said.
Sablan highlighted the collaborative nature of the panels. “That’s really where we’re bringing people together to take a look at the immigrant protections that we’ve established in the law and looking at how we can really make them work for people in their everyday lives,” she said.
To register for the conference, visit thehiic.org.
For information on the organizing coalition, visit hicir.org
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