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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0125.011 2024-2026p 1CMAC, Patti Cook Box 6960 — Kamuela, HI 967,.43 cookshi(a7aol.com 808-937-2 83S `.,.. March 17, 2025 The Honorable Jenn Kagiwada and Members Hawai'i County Council — Governmental Operations & External Affairs Committee Meeting: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 — 9AM Re: GOEAC — Res. 74-25 and Comm 125.2 — DEFER ACTION PLEASE AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENTS WITH FEDERAL AND STATE PARTNERS TO SUPPORT THEIR CONTINUED COOPERATION WITH THE HAWAI] POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR THE SAFETY OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAH Authorizes the Police Department to enter into two agreements with the Department of Homeland Security relating to immigration and customs enforcement and one agreement with the Federal Bureau of Investigations relating to the Safe Streets Task Force. Aloha — I'm Patti Cook from Waimea. I again ask this Council Committee to defer action on this proposed resolution and draft MOU for the reasons shared previously (see attached testimony from Feb. 18 GOEAC hearing) and because the proposed draft MOU — shared via paper copies with Council members about an hour before the Feb. 18 hearing has not been posted to the county website for public review and apparently no further work has occurred to amend the proposed MOU as discussed at the prior hearing. I must add that I have spent quite a bit of time searching the council website for the draft MOU and have been unable to find it, raising sunshine questions about the measures under consideration today. Further, the draft MOU as shared direct with me gives a "blank check" to the federal agencies to become imbedded in our Hawai'i Police Department and specifically excludes financial compensation for this action that will inevitably pull our already short-handed officers away from their Hawai'i County Charter- and ordinance -mandated responsibilities. Personally, I have tremendous respect for the officers and staff of the Hawai'i County Police Department — more so after the extremely difficult situation the past few days that resulted in an officer being shot. I join all the people of Hawai'i County — and I'm sure this Council - in keeping this officer and his family and fellow officers in my thoughts for full recovery and mahalo them all for the courage and commitment to continue to do a very difficult job every day. I also thank the families of our first responders for their support and sacrifice. The department was confronted with disturbing criminal action and responded professionally, fulfilling their mandated responsibility. They must not be distracted by or otherwise involved in immigration actions. While we trust the judgement of department leadership, the evolving situation and decisions coming out of Washington, DC — including recent actions right here in Kona - are not in keeping with our county's and state's values about what constitutes a safe community for all. Further, all residents — documented and undocumented — have rights. We must protect these rights. Mahalo for your consideration. Patti Cook Comm. N .1 ls' 11 ...�_ Ref. To: Ref. Date- ( 18 202 Patti Cook Box 6960 — Kamuela, HI 96743 cookshi(cDaol.com * 808-937-2833 February 16, 2025 The Honorable Jenn Kagiwada and Members Hawai'i County Council — Governmental Operations & External Affairs Committee Meeting: Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025 — 9AM Re: GOEAC — Res. 74-25 and Comm 125 — DEFER ACTION PLEASE AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENTS WITH FEDERAL AND STATE PARTNERS TO SUPPORT THEIR CONTINUED COOPERATION WITH THE HAWAI'I POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR THE SAFETY OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAH Authorizes the Police Department to enter into two agreements with the Department of Homeland Security relating to immigration and customs enforcement and one agreement with the Federal Bureau of Investigations relating to the Safe Streets Task Force. Aloha — I'm Patti Cook from Waimea and apologize for this late testimony. I ask the Council Committee to defer action on this proposed resolution for a number of urgent reasons: Testimony submitted by attorney Sandy Ma with The Legal Clinic is very detailed and addresses the complexity of the immigration issues here on Hawai'i Island and across the state (and country), and the constitutional protections all residents including those who are undocumented or in the process of becoming documented across the island and state have and that must be observed and protected. Further, may I add: 1) Our Hawai'i County Police Department is doing a good job — given the resources they have — to protect public safety. They put themselves on the line every day. They are, however, clearly stretched manpower -wise due to funding constraints and existing vacancies. Therefore, this action to add more to their responsibilities is not timely and there is no certainty the county will be reimbursed or otherwise adequately compensated for the time commitments to fulfil these additional responsibilities relating to immigration and customs enforcement. 2) Our Hawai'i County Police are not trained in immigration law and protocols to adequately protect the constitutional rights of residents who may be involved in or targeted for immigration and customs enforcement. 3) Documents which are examples of prior such agreements are referenced in the submittal from Mayor Alameda but not attached and not posted to the county website as of 3PM Sun., 2/16/25. After a very time consuming council website search, I was unable to locate the three referenced attachments since shortly after your committee agenda was posted and now even though I called out their absence Friday, 2/14/25 when unable to locate, I am still unable to locate even though Comm 125 was added to the site. I did receive pdf copies of the attached 3 docs from Council Member Kagiwada from 2016 and 2017 (fortunately no longer in force), only to learn that these are offered as EXEMPLARS, not specific drafts of what proposed agreements might look like today in a gravely more politicized environment wherein constitutional rights and rule of law are being seriously challenged on many fronts. Best I can tell, the people of Hawai'i County have NOT been able to review these attachments to better understand what is being proposed in relationship to ICE, the FBI and Homeland Security. Why am I so concerned? In early 2017 shortly after the election of President Trump, our County experienced ICE immigration/deportation procedures in South Kona which County Police assisted with because agreements in the attached pdfs were in place. Police department leadership advised us at the time that because the county had accepted federal funding for police -related equipment and training, the quid pro quo was our police department personnel had to provide assistance. Those 2017 actions were not viewed by many of us in the community as appropriate and further, we viewed them as very probably having violated constitutional rights of immigrants. We know for a fact it did result in deportation of a respected South Kona coffee farmer who was a contributor to our island community and economy as a tax payer who deserved fair treatment based on constitutional rule of law. At the very least, more community discussion is needed about this complex situation related to immigration. As documented in The Legal Clinic's testimony, our island has a large number of undocumented immigrants who are otherwise law-abiding community contributors often working in agriculture, food service, construction, healthcare, etc. — doing work we urgently need to be done — often work that others refuse to do. Also, they pay taxes including social security, to which they will have no claim. Ironically, the IRS has a process in place to enable undocumented immigrants to pay taxes legally! Without question, America's immigration policies need extensive overhauling, but this resolution would sanction a band aide approach with serious unintended consequences that at the least exacerbate fear and disruption in communities across the island — more so now that the President has lifted bans that protected schools, hospitals and faith groups/churches/temples as safe spaces. One more key point (and I do apologize for this being long), the 2025 State Legislature has heard a number of immigration -related bills including HB22 which is set for a 2"d hearing this coming Wednesday, 2/19/25. For the first hearing on HB22, there were about 91 written and in -person testifiers in favor, 52 opposed. Among those testifying in person, on zoom or in writing in support were HGEA, Unite Here/Local 5, and the much larger Hawai'i State AFL-CIO, plus ACLU Hawai'i, Catholic Charities Hawai'i, the State Office of the Public Defender, the Hawai'i Children's Action Network, Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawai'i, and importantly, The Legal Clinic and the Hawai'i Coalition for Immigrant Rights (HICIR). This is a rare combination of entities weighing in to support the same piece of legislation. I share this to urge that the Hawai'i County Council defer action to the State Legislature to address complex immigration matters in a cohesive, coherent comprehensive statewide approach applicable across all four counties. Please defer action. And mahalo for your commitment to doing what's best for Hawai'i Island. A hui hou — Patti Cook 4