Bill to make Honolulu sanctuary city dies

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, 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.

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 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 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.”