Honolulu City Council members have unanimously passed a resolution calling on Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration and the Honolulu Police Department to not spend city money assisting federal agencies tasked with enforcing President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
Authored by Councilwoman Carol Fukunaga and co-sponsored by three colleagues, Resolution 17-50 states that the Council and city have “a steadfast commitment to uphold Honolulu as a Haven of Aloha.”
“The Council believes that federal authorities should abide by the recent ruling of the U.S. District Court … regarding the rights of immigrants and refugees under the Constitution and laws of the United States,” the resolution states.
A federal judge in San Francisco, on the day before Wednesday’s unanimous vote on the resolution, issued a temporary injunction against Trump’s executive order that threatened to withhold federal funding to “sanctuary cities,” local government agencies that refuse to cooperate fully with those enforcing Trump’s immigration policies. U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick said only Congress could place such restrictions on federal spending.
The Honolulu resolution requests that Caldwell and HPD not expend city money to work with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division in its enforcement of federal immigration policies.
The resolution also supports state Attorney General Douglas Chin’s challenge to Trump’s March 6 executive order banning travel from six mostly Muslim countries and suspension of the nation’s refugee program. Chin’s challenge led U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson to block the federal government from enforcing the ban.
Councilman Joey Manahan, who emigrated from the Philippines as a youth, said U.S. citizens need to know “that you have inalienable rights, and more than anything, having that peace of mind knowing that your police force is not going to come after you because you’re not from here.”
Manahan said Americans should not take their civil liberties for granted, adding that he left the Philippines when it was under martial law and that the political climate there today is even more chilling.
Fukunaga said it’s important to articulate “a policy and a commitment to the principles and values that we hold dear” and that “reflect Hawaii and all its diversity.”
Caldwell spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke said the mayor has not taken a position on Fukunaga’s resolution but noted that HPD does not enforce federal immigration policies. “They do not ask for immigration status when making arrests, and they do not have access to any federal immigration database,” he said.
“However, ICE does have access to HPD’s public arrest logs,” he said. “Occasionally, the Prosecutor’s Office has involved ICE in enforcement operations, such as when they did enforcement actions at massage parlors.”
Amy Agbayani, chairwoman of the Filipino-Americans Advocacy Network and one of five people who testified Wednesday in support of Fukunaga’s resolution, said it “affirms the Council’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion.”
Many of Hawaii’s Filipino residents are recent immigrants, Agbayani said. “One estimate is that 40 percent of the undocumented people in our state are from the Philippines,” she said. “Many are in mixed-status households — a spouse or a child may be a U.S. citizen. … They are your neighbors, colleagues, students, workers, caregivers and taxpayers.”
Ewa Beach resident Earl Arakaki submitted written testimony against the resolution. Arakaki said, “‘Haven of Aloha’ in reality is creating Honolulu to be a sanctuary city. Law enforcement officers and active politicians took an oath to protect and defend the Hawaii State Constitution and the United States Constitution. Federal and local law enforcement officers have concurring jurisdictions to protect its citizens first and foremost. When local police discover a federal law violator, it is incumbent upon them to report violator (illegal alien) to proper authorities.”
Also last week, the Council voted to approve:
>> Bill 13, expanding the city’s controversial sit-lie ban to several Kalihi and Iwilei neighborhoods after complaints by commercial and business entities about homeless and others camped near their establishments. The ban prohibits people from sitting or lying on public sidewalks except from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
>> Resolution 17-60, granting a special management area use permit to Outrigger Hotels Hawaii for its Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort. Plans call for demolition of the existing Diamond Head tower and pool deck and construction of a new 150-foot beachfront tower to replace it.
>> Resolutions authorizing paying up to $100,000 each to three law firms representing the city Ethics Commission, former commission Executive Director Chuck Totto and former commission investigator Letha DeCaires as they defend themselves against a lawsuit filed by former HPD Chief Louis Kealoha alleging the commission conducted “a series of unfounded, vindictive, unsubstantiated and illegal” investigations against him; his wife, Honolulu Deputy Prosecutor Katherine Kealoha; and their teenage daughter.