HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0125.071 2024-2026li+?5.7U�2�
CAMM.125
From: Miho Morinoue
Sent: Tuesday, April 1, 2025 2:01 PM
To: Council Testimony -
Subject: DO NOT ACCEPT: Resolution 74 - 25: ICE MOU
To Council Members and Mayor,
ALOHA NO!
1 live in Holualoa on Moku o Keawe. 1 am a third -generation Japanese American and a citizen of these
Hawaiian Islands, and 1 strongly oppose Hawaii County Police entering into ANY Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with ICE. Such an agreement would cause immense suffering to the people of our
island.
Hawaii is an aloha state, and we must stand up for what is pono—what is right. The unjust treatment of
our people must be addressed.
am aware that Hawaii County is being pressured into passing an ICE MOU. 1 urge you to resist. Do not
enter into this agreement —it would be disastrous for our people. Here's why:
1. An ICE MOU will increase crime in our communities.
Our diverse local community is built on trust, care for each other, and a deep connection to the land.
This agreement would place ICE agents directly inside local police facilities, where they would conduct
joint operations controlled by federal authorities. There would be no clear distinction between ICE and
local police, eroding community trust. Historically, such policies have led to increased crime and
hostility between law enforcement and the communities they serve.
2. It will worsen the recruitment crisis for local police officers.
It is already difficult to recruit officers to serve in our communities. If local police are seen as enforcers of
an oppressive, mainland -driven agenda, how will this impact recruitment? Our officers will be viewed as
collaborators in yet another federal takeover of our islands.
3. ICE wilt devastate our economy.
More people are arrested by ICE than by Border Patrol, and this number is rising. If ICE is allowed to
operate freely under this MOU, entire industries —agriculture, construction, and healthcare —will
collapse. And it won't "only" affect undocumented individuals. ICE is already arresting and deporting:
Permanent residents with green cards
People legally married to U.S. citizens who are adjusting their status
Students and workers on legal visas
Families wilt betorn apart. Citizens wilt leave because they refuse tobeseparated from their Loved ones.
The economic impact will be devastating —people will go hungry, businesses will close, and
communities will suffer.
4. We owe it to our ancestors to stop history from repeating itself.
During World War 11, local Japanese and German community members were imprisoned and deported.
Our ancestors fought and sacrificed to protect their rights and those of future generations. Today, ICE
operates with the same racial profiling and unchecked authority. What kind of ancestors wilt we be if we
allow this tOcontinue?
5. The new ICE "Alien Enemies Validation Guide" is discriminatory and dangerous.
This guide directs ICE toarrest anyone suspected of having gang -related tattoos and exile them toa
notorious prison in EL Salvador —whether or not they have committed a crime. Many innocent people are
already imprisoned under this policy. ICE has been ordered to meet an arrest quota of 1,500 people per
day. When there aren't enough undocumented individuals to meet this quota, ICE will expand its criteria,
targeting innocent people.
The Republican Party has:
° Frozen/cut funding for education and agriculture
° Fired hundreds ofworkers
° Shutdown our volcano monitoring laboratory
° Stashed environmental protection, restoration, and cultural programs
* Attacked racial, gender, and religious diversity in universities, threatening intellectual freedom
° Driven up prices through tariffs
Do not Let ICE infect our Local law enforcement with their Lawlessness, racial profiling, and exploitation.
Do not allow our people to become victims of the m i lita ry-police-i nca rceratio n-su rvei Ila nce complex. Do
not sacrifice our communities toxthis federal regime.
Say NO to the ICE MOU.
ALONAyN- is a call to honor Hawai'i as a place of rebirth, resitience, and resistance —a place that
embraces humanity in all its complexity, with compassion and care. In the words of Kanaka'Oiwi (Native
Hawaiian) philosopher Dr. Manulani AtuLi Meyer:
�awai'i is vital now, and our way ofspirit is the spirit ofaloha. Ulu oe kemelina,ake aloha. Loving is the
practice of an awake mind. "
AkJh@PUm8h8Va,
- MihOKGD8DiMOriDOue