The Honolulu City Council voted unanimously to censure council member Rod Tam, who used a racial slur to refer to undocumented laborers during a committee hearing May 13.

Council chair Barbara Marshall said Tam will not lose his zoning committee chairmanship.

During a discussion of zoning amendments for the proposed University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu campus, Tam said:

"The concern from (labor unions) is basically that they have to be skilled, licensed workers. We don't want any, uh, wetbacks, basically," said Tam. "OK. We've been receiving (reports about) developers or contractors bringing in wetbacks from New Mexico. Uh Mexico. I'm sorry Mexico. OK. Illegal aliens. And that's a problem here, basically. We don't want that type."

The resolution states that the use of the term "wetbacks" is considered an "offensive racial slur, inappropriate for use by an elected official in city government and has no place in any official government meeting of the council or its committee.

The resolution was introduced by council members Charles K. Djou and Donovan M. Dela Cruz.