In a rebuke of one of Hawaii Governor David Ige’s key efforts aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19, the Justice Department has called the state’s mandatory quarantine for travelers discriminatory.
The agency filed a 21-page Statement of Interest Tuesday in a legal challenge to the 14-day quarantine, saying the emergency rule is unfair to non-residents and “likely violates” constitutional protections of inter-state travel.
The quarantine applies to residents and visitors, and has some exemptions.
The Justice Department’s filing asserts that “Hawaii’s effective discrimination against out-of-state residents does not appear sufficiently tailored to ensuring public safety.”
In a news release following the filing, U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii Kenji Price said there are “bounds to the discretion our public officials have during times of crisis.”
“Those bounds are shaped by constitutional safeguards, such as the right of Hawaii residents and persons who hail from other states to travel freely within this great country.”
The state shot back at the Justice Department’s conclusions, calling them without merit.
“The Governor’s Emergency Proclamation for COVID-19 and the subsequent proclamations were properly and lawfully issued pursuant to the governor’s statutory authority and his determination that an emergency exists due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the danger and threat it poses to Hawaii,” the state Attorney General’s Office said, in a statement.
Challenges to the state’s quarantine come as the governor prepares to announce a new program for visitors that would allow them to forgo the mandatory quarantine if they test negative for COVID-19 before arriving in the islands.
If the quarantine rule is dropped, it’s not clear how Hawaii would be able to keep the testing program in place.
