Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai`i) never saw Donald Trump’s rise as a joke. Back in February, she took to the Senate floor to speak out against the nation’s growing xenophobia as seen in his campaign.
“The internment of Japanese Americans during World War II remains a dark time in our nation’s history,” said Senator Hirono. “Yet, today we hear echoes of the sentiments of 1942 directed toward members of the Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Arab, Middle Eastern, and South Asian communities. Mahalo to the Council on American-Islamic Relations for standing with me to recognize that we cannot repeat the mistakes of our past, and that the diversity of our nation is what makes America strong.”
In a statement of support for Sen. Hirono’s resolution, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“As a nation, we have a responsibility to learn from our darkest chapters. In marking the forced internment of Japanese Americans, we must commit ourselves to never again persecute our fellow citizens on the basis of their ancestry, nationality, race, religion, culture, or traditions. As we now live in a time of toxic political rhetoric and violence against American Muslim citizens, let us learn from the past and not repeat it.”
A broad coalition of civil rights organizations has backed the measure, including: Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), the National Coalition for Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA), Muslim Advocates, the Sikh Coalition, and South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT).
First elected to Congress 10 years ago, Hirono, a native of Japan, has been an outspoken advocate for tolerance, inclusion and immigrants’ rights throughout her tenure on Capitol Hill.
As a member of the Judiciary Committee, Hirono authored numerous progressive amendments to the comprehensive immigration reform that passed the Senate, before being permanently stalled in the House.
Of Hirono’s 11 measures that were passed during the Judiciary Committee’s markup, all were included in the final bill. These include major legislative victories for Hawaii –measures that help Filipino World War II veterans reunite with their children, restore Medicaid eligibility for COFA migrants, help Hawaii’s fishing industry and could expand foreign tourism in the state. She also convinced her colleagues to include key protections for women and families during the committee’s markup.
Throughout this year’s campaign, she remained a fierce Trump critic, denouncing his “bizarre” and “offensive” views on immigration.
And she hasn’t slowed down, beginning with a strong statement just a few days after the election.
Senator Mazie K. Hirono released the following statement in response to top Trump surrogate Carl Higbie’s remarks that the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II should be used as precedent for the creation of a Muslim registry:
“The internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II was a historic injustice and nothing like it should ever happen again,” said Senator Hirono. “The protection of our Constitution is not conditional; it applies to all of us. We cannot allow hate speech, racism, and anti-immigrant sentiment to become the new norm in our country, and we must continue to speak out against hate and prejudice. An inclusive and vibrant America is worth fighting for.”
And just within the last week, she’s reaffirmed her commitment to DREAMers, saying she will “fight tooth and nail” for these young immigrants who have no home but America.
Hirono is the second woman of color ever elected to the Senate. She spent part of 2016 helping to elect the third, fourth and fifth minority female Senators, with a particularly noteworthy effort in Nevada on behalf of Catherine Cortez Masto.
“Resistance” is the new call to action. In the U.S. Senate, resistance is already being practiced by Mazie Hirono.