A recently introduced city bill that would have made Honolulu a sanctuary city has died.
Honolulu City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, who co-authored Bill 31 Opens in a new tab, said there are no plans to move the bill beyond the approval it received on first reading June 5.
“We introduced it for the people that asked, and there doesn’t seem to be
a need for a hearing, because not many people like that,” she said. “So that’s it, that’s the end of it.”
Kobayashi said that after a failed attempt to pass a sanctuary state bill during this year’s legislative
session, she was asked to introduce a city bill. But considering other issues before the Council and the belief that it won’t pass, the measure is dead, she said.
“There really is no support. You’d think that
Hawaii would kind of be
the center for immigration issues,” she said. “But I guess if it’s deemed a ‘sanctuary city,’ that’s not well-received.”
Kobayashi said she’s not in favor of sanctuary cities herself.
There are eight sanctuary states and 172 sanctuary cities in the United States, according to the Center for Immigration Studies Opens in a new tab.
Bill 31 would have limited the Honolulu Police Department’s enforcement of
federal immigration laws
by prohibiting police
from stopping, questioning or arresting people solely based on suspicion of
their citizenship or complying with requests for
personal information from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and
Customs and Border Protection agencies.
Councilwoman Carol Fukunaga, the bill’s co-author, introduced a well-supported resolution Opens in a new tab in 2017 urging the city not to
expend county funds to
assist ICE.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii supported the resolution, and in its testimony said, “When local law enforcement acts as an extension of the immigration system, public trust is corroded and the ability of officers to perform their jobs is hindered.”
Senate Bill 557 Opens in a new tab died once it crossed into the House in March. The Hawaii Women’s Coalition and Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii were among the supporters of the bill, and in their respective written testimonies said creating a sanctuary state would help “offset the cruel and inhumane policies of (President Donald Trump’s) administration” and help foster “an immigration system that respects the dignity of all people.”
HPD opposed the bill, saying it would have affected its ability to function properly.
“It will instead hamper police efforts to keep
our community safe by threatening the local police department’s ability to qualify for essential federal funding,” it said in a statement.
The Hawaii island police department and the state attorney general also opposed the bill.
The Honolulu County Republican Party opposed Bill 31, calling it unfair in a press release sent out Tuesday.
Bill 31 was never really considered, said Kobayashi. When asked when in the future it might be, she said, “I don’t know. It’s hard to judge, so that’s why we introduced it, just to see if there was any interest, but there isn’t any interest.”
