Speeches & Testimony

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express gratitude and support for our Nation's vibrant immigrant community on this National Immigrants Day.

Every October 28th, we recognize and celebrate the contributions of immigrants—born citizens of another country—to our United States. Our Nation stands as the country with the most immigrants in the world: over 52 million in 2024, or about 15 percent of our overall population. Throughout our history immigrants have made, and today continue to make, invaluable contributions to our country, including invigorating our economy and sharing their unique cultures to enrich the fabric of our society.

Nowhere is this truer than in my Hawaii, where so many are themselves immigrants or descended from immigrants. Hawaii is home today to 256,000 immigrants, or about 18 percent of our total population—ranking us 8th in the Nation. Immigrants have been central to the history and culture of Hawaii for centuries, from being the backbone of our labor force in Hawaii's earlier agricultural industries in sugar and pineapple, to now making up 22 percent of our labor force and a disproportionately large share of our vital hospitality and health care industries as well as our dominant small businesses. Our distinctive multicultural identity, from “pidgin” to fusion foods like spam musubi, meat jun and saimin, to our distinctly local music and way of life, have been uniquely shaped by our immigrant `ohana.

Nationally, the immigrant experience then and now has strengthened our country immeasurably in equally multiple ways. In pure economic terms alone, in 2022 immigrants generated some $1.6 trillion in economic activity and contributed more than $579 billion in local, state and federal taxes, and today millions of American workers are employed at immigrant-founded and immigrant-owned companies. Immigration is and will increasingly be essential to meeting workplace demand. Our immigrant communities maintain ties to their countries of origin and thus strengthen our Nation's indispensable international bonds.

At a time when too many immigrant communities here and elsewhere are being unfairly targeted and villainized, it is more important than ever that we recognize, celebrate and extend our support to our dynamic, diverse and thriving immigrant community and thank all immigrants for your belief in and contributions to our country. Mahalo.