Kaʻū News Briefs, Friday, January 4, 2019

About 90 percent of terrestrial snails described in Hawaiʻi have gone extinct. See the Snail Extinction Prevention Program  at dlnr.hawaii.gov/ecosystems/hip/sep. See story, below. Photos from DLNR

ARBITRARY DETENTION AND DEPORTATION "of many long-term U.S. residents from Southeast Asia, including those who fled war and genocide," is the target of an inquest by Sen. Mazie Hirono and California Sen. Kamala Harris. They led 13 senators in urging Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen to reexamine the policy and said they are particularly concerned with "the Trump

Vietnamese boat people were among the refugees taken in by the United States. The Trump administration seeks to change the refugee agreements and deport many refugees from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Photo from Wikipedia

Administration's targeting of Vietnamese refugees who arrived in the country prior to the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam in 1995." The Senators contend that the detention and deportation of those who sought refuge in the U.S. "violates a 2008 repatriation agreement between the two countries. The agreement provided legal protection for hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees who fled to the United States following the Vietnam War."

     A letter from Hirono, Harris, and colleagues to the Homeland Security Secretary says that "In Fiscal Year 2018, there was an increase in deportations of Southeast Asian immigrants with more than 350 Laotian, Cambodian, and Vietnamese immigrants who were ordered to be deported. Those processed for deportation by the Trump administration's recent, aggressive deportation efforts include legal permanent residents who have lived in the United States for decades after fleeing violence and genocide in their home countries. We urge you to reexamine policies on the arbitrary detention and deportation of Southeast Asian immigrants who prove no threat to public safety, are interwoven into our communities, and support United States citizen families."

     Several leading justice and advocacy groups have spoken out against the Trump Administration's actions, including the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, Vietnamese Anti-Deportation Network, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, AAJC Atlanta, and AAJC Chicago. Hawaiʻi is home to more than 140,000 foreign born residents from Southeast Asia, Hirono noted.

     The full text of the letter is available here.

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THE PARTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IS AFFECTING HAWAIʻI more than most other states, says a recent report from WalletHub. Hawaiʻi is the fourth hardest hit. It is first in affecting federal jobs, ninth in affecting access to National Parks, seventeenth in affecting income from real estate as a percentage of Gross State Product, and twenty-ninth in affecting families receiving SNAP (Food Stamps).
     This shutdown, into its fifteenth day, is the twenty-first time the federal government has shut down, the third time during the Trump presidency. The longest shutdown was 21 days.
     When the government shuts down, certain federal employees work without pay. Others are off work - on furlough, explains WalletHub. Among those off work nationwide are 41,000 law enforcement officers, 52,000 IRS workers, and 96 percent of NASA employees. "Non-essential" government services also remain inactive and certain benefits are liable to run out of funding, says WalletHub.
     At Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, volunteer groups such as Friends of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and Hawaiʻi Pacific Parks Association are raising money to keep the park open. See more in tomorrow's Kaʻū News Briefs.
     Read WalletHub's report.

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KAHULI - HAWAIIAN TREE SNAIL - GEORGE, the last known Achatinella apexfulva, died on New Year's Day. The state Department of Land & Natural Resources released this story:

George, the last Hawaiian tree snail of his species died on New Years Day, but his tissue remains in deep freeze for a possible revival in the future. DLNR photo

     George was approximately 14 years old and his name was derived from the Pinta Island Galapagos tortoise, "Lonesome George," also the last of his species.
     The Achatinella apexfulva was the first of over 750 species of land snails from the Hawaiian Islands described in western science. The first mention dates back to at least 1787, when Captain George Dixon was docked on O‘ahu and was given a shell on a lei. These snails were once common on O‘ahu in the Ko‘olau Mountains and were used heavily for lei making as access to them was much easier at lower elevations.

     In 1997, the last ten known Achatinella apexfulva were brought to a laboratory at the University of Hawai‘i for captive rearing. Some additional offspring were produced but later all the Achatinella apexfulva died, except for George.

     A two-millimeter snippet of George's foot was collected in 2017 for research purposes and the living tissue remains alive in a deep freeze container at San Diego's Frozen Zoo.
     George's passing is a significant loss to locals as he was featured in numerous articles and hundreds of school children have viewed him over the years.
     The remaining land snails in Hawai‘i face imminent extinction threats from invasive species and climate change. The Snail Extinction Prevention Program is featured prominently in the upcoming television documentary, Forests for Life, which chronicles the vital importance of Hawai‘i's native forests to all life in Hawai‘i. The hour-long special, considered the most comprehensive look at all the benefits native forests provide and the threats they face, debuts on KFVE-TV (K5), at 7  p.m. on Friday, Jan. 18, with a repeat on Monday, Jan. 21, at 8 p.m.

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APPLICATIONS FOR AKAMAI SUMMER INTERNSHIPS are open, with Twenty Meter Telescope sponsors providing $320,000 in funding for the 2019 STEM Internsip Program. A statement from TMT says, "The Akamai Workforce Initiative (is) a program that seeks to develop a skilled STEM workforce to meet the needs of Hawai‘i's growing high tech industry." The program offers college students from Hawai‘i an opportunity to gain summer work experience at an observatory, company, or scientific/technical facility on Hawai‘i Island and Maui for an eight-week program from Sunday, June 16, through Friday, Aug. 16.
     TMT is the primary funder of the Akamai Internship Program and provides staff in Hilo and Pasadena, CA, to mentor interns. TMT has supported the Akamai Internship Program since 2009 and contributed a total of nearly $1,000,000 towards developing a skilled Hawai‘i STEM workforce.