Aloha Reader,

Labor Day is almost here! Plan to attend our Workers Over Billionaires event on Monday, September 1, 2025, from 4 to 5 PM.

Join millions nationwide standing up to tyranny and fighting to save democracy. We will make it clear that our government must support working Americans, not greedy billionaires. Come out with us, and please bring a friend or two. In these troubling times, it really helps to feel the positive energy generated at these events! Get more information and register for the event on Mobilize.

Recap: ICE and Rapid Response

Kona Indivisible (KIND), in cooperation with Aloha Latinos Hawaii, held a Stand-In on August 14-15, 2025 in Kailua-Kona to protest Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) impacts on our communities and to ask local businesses to refuse to accommodate ICE. Although ICE may not have been on the island, the stand-in effectively raised our concerns about ICE and started a dialogue with local communities.

We propose to kick off an island-wide Pono Business initiative by asking businesses to commit to measures limiting ICE access to workplaces and celebrating those businesses that stand with us. We will offer Know Your Rights training for the companies and their staff and provide them with signage they can use to designate private areas that ICE cannot enter.

When asked recently about how to fight ICE activities in Hawaii, Senator Brian Schatz suggested we use a porcupine strategy: Make it so hard to handle us that ICE decides it is easier to go elsewhere. We think it’s more appropriate to be like a wana (Black Spiny Sea Urchin!) —very prickly—to discourage them from bothering us. And remember, you can report ICE activities on our website.

The passionate group Aloha Latinos Hawaii is developing several immigration-related initiatives, and we will continue to partner with them and ask you to participate. However, KIND will also be initiating other anti-ICE initiatives.

For example, our Tina Marie has started a new Signal chat to rapidly respond to ICE activities on the island. This new Signal chat will be limited to broadcasting information and will not be a discussion forum.

When ICE is located on the Big Island, her Signal chat will put out the word and ask people in the area to verify, document, and report the ICE activity. More information on this Rapid Response chat can be found here. Please let us know if you want to join us in our anti-ICE campaign and our wana tactics.

Along those lines, we are also ready with an ICE report form. Check it out and spread the word.

Update: Police Commission

Hopefully, you saw the newspaper article on the most recent Police Commission meeting discussing the Chief of Police selection process. We drove to Hilo to continue pressuring the Commission to consider ICE cooperation as a factor in the selection. Our advocacy with the Police Commission is having a noticeable impact!

Multiple commissioners voiced the desire to restore a requirement for an in-state resident, sensitive to the public safety of all residents. In a private side conversation, Interim Chief Mahuna clearly expressed his support for our attention and testimony. We continue pressuring the County Council for a resolution to give Chief Mahuna cover in resisting ICE tactics.

The September Police Commission meeting will be on Friday, September 19, 2025, at 9 AM. at the West Hawaii Civic Center, Building A, in Kona. It will again cover the application for the new chief. Please testify and help shape the application process.

When the date approaches, we will email an action alert and share our submissions from the last few months. We encourage anyone who wants to testify about this critical community issue.

Update: Postcarding

You guys rock! We have been writing thousands of postcards to swing states, encouraging people to register to vote and urging registered voters to get out and vote. Swing state elections are critical! States hold enormous power in our political system, and anti-democratic forces have captured too many state legislatures. We must help turn the tide.

We will now focus on encouraging Californians to vote YES on the proposed redistricting maps to counteract Texas’s redistricting attack. We also have a postcard campaign supporting Lilly Franklin for the State House of Delegates in Virginia. Check out our postcard events on our website!

September Beach Potluck

Our next potluck at Kahalu’u Beach Park is on Sunday, September 7, 2025, from 4 to 7 PM. Everyone who attended the August event had a great time. So, come meet other KIND members, discuss ideas for fighting the Trump regime, and relax and recharge with us. Please bring food and drinks to share and your own beverage. You can register for this event here.

Give us your thoughts!

The KIND Steering Committee has been discussing initiating other regular actions between our sign-waving protests. We want to get your feedback on these ideas.

1. Pono Business Initiative: Invite local businesses to pledge to protect our neighbors and avoid supporting ICE activities. Provide Know Your Rights training to employers and employees, and encourage them to restrict access to employee areas.
2. Target DEI Protest: A weekly protest near Target to encourage them to reinstate their Diversity, Equity & Inclusion policies.
3. Anti-ICE Kona Cruise Ship Stand-In: A weekly protest near Kailua Pier when a cruise ship is in town to educate visitors on ICE impacts on our communities.
4. Burma Shave Protest Signs: Remember the old Burma Shave roadside sign campaigns? The Indivisible group in Hilo recently did a Burma Shave sign protest. Let's do those in Kona!
5. We are working toward a rally with speakers and music sometime this fall. What issues would you like discussed?

Which ideas resonate with you? Or, share your ideas! Never hesitate to reach out to us. Hit reply and type away!

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Aloha,

MET (Maryellen),
Kona Indivisible Co-lead

​ - The Kona Indivisible Team ​konaindivisible.org​ ​info@konaindivisible.org​

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PS: Check out our website! We’ve continued to add resources and other information, from civics training to information on your elected officials at all levels. Remember to let us know what you think or if there is other information you think we should include.

PSS: Let everyone know what you've been up to by posting and tagging our Facebook and BlueSky pages!

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