The needs of COFA (Compacts of Free Association) migrant communities deserve greater attention by policy makers. COFA migrants are among the most underresourced in the state, facing significant disparities in the provision of health care and education services. House Bill 2404 would establish a task force to address the ongoing needs of the COFA migrant community. This bill has two major purposes.
First, it establishes a census of all COFA migrant residents in Hawaii. This would help ensure that Hawaii gets sufficient federal funding based on an accurate count of the population. Second, it would provide policy recommendations for prospective legislative action.
There are many avenues where Micronesians and other COFA migrants have encountered structural, economic and social obstacles that impede the cultivation of their health and well-being. In terms of household incomes, census income data prior to the COVID-19 pandemic indicate that Pasifika communities have the lowest household incomes in the state.
Additionally, the ACLU of Hawaii has concluded that Pacific Islanders, along with Native Hawaiians and Blacks, are the targets of systemic racism by the police. Relations between the police and Micronesians have been problematic at best.
Honolulu’s Police Department established a cultural sensitivity or exposure training component concerning the Micronesian community for new recruits. It appears that this component is of short duration and inadequate in its depth and understanding. Further, this training has not been extended to current police officers. The task force should investigate policing issues, including use of force standards by state and local law enforcement.
Last year, the state Legislature passed House Concurrent Resolution 112, which declared racism as a “public health crisis.” This resolution observed that Pacific Islanders were among those who are “disproportionately the subject of police force” and have experienced disproportionately higher rates of COVID-19 and COVID-19-related deaths. Why is this so? Hopefully the forthcoming task force will investigate ways to make health care and social services more accessible, and look at ways to decrease the criminalization of underresourced communities.
Another key issue for the task force is education. How are Micronesians and other Pasifika communities served by Hawaii’s public schools? Many anecdotal incidents indicate that many of these students feel a deep sense of alienation and failure in our public schools. A study from the University of Hawaii notes that this state leads the nation in the arrest of its schoolchildren. In this regard, Hawaii’s “school to prison pipeline” is outpacing other states.
There is also the issue of the state Department of Education’s use and likely misuse of Form 4140. This form involves the request of parents to homeschool their child. In some instances, it is used to remove Micronesian and COFA migrant students from the classroom for purposes that are not in the students’ best educational interests and development. The task force will hopefully propose concrete policy solutions to this administrative practice.
There are serious problems with how our public schools and other institutions treat COFA migrant communities. These require serious and targeted solutions. The proposed task force would be committed to having Micronesian voices be heard and to leading the way in helping to identify issues and in proposing solutions.
Kudos to state Sen. Stanley Chang and other members of the Legislature for exploring ways to improve the social, legal and material conditions for the Micronesian and COFA migrant community. These efforts to establish this Micronesian task force exhibit the best meaning of the term “Living Aloha.”
Roman Leverenz, a retired state social worker in the Human Services Department, is a board member of The Legal Clinic.
