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Posted: Monday, October 1st, 2012 9:09 AM HST

UH professor: Mexican immigrants targeted in HI

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — An ethnic studies professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa says state and federal immigration officials have disproportionately targeted Mexicans in Hawaii for detention and deportation. Professor Monisha Das Gupta told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in a report published Monday that the number of immigration cases in Hawaii involving Mexicans goes against demographics in the state. Das Gupta says roughly 10 percent of the 40,000 illegal immigrants in Hawaii are Mexican. But of the 767 cases handled by Honolulu Immigration Court during fiscal 2011, 22 percent involved Mexicans. Cases involving Chinese nationals make up 24 percent of the cases, while Filipinos are involved in 20 percent of the cases. The Department of Homeland Security says nearly 7,300 foreign nationals were granted legal permanent residence in Hawaii in fiscal 2011.