Ship 'em to the Mainland

[Bob Orts]

Guess everyone heard Hawaii is looking into a homeless relocation program. People who came to Hawaii and are now homeless will be provided a ticket back home.

[Jon]

Is there any truth that some cites were flying them to Hawaii?


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I do not believe that America is better than everybody else...
America "IS" everybody else.
HBAT

[Guest]

"Honolulu City Councilman Rod Tam says Mainland cities are exporting their homeless problem to Hawaii."

http://www.khon2.com/news/local/18882794.html

Damon Tucker's Weblog

[Bob Orts]

quote:

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Originally posted by Jon

Is there any truth that some cites were flying them to Hawaii?

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Yes and No.

Yes, there are some municipalities that will buy an airline ticket to send a homeless person to Hawaii.

No, they are not just sending homeless people to Hawaii without justification.

Just like Hawaii is looking at providing assistance to help those who want to return HOME or to the care of their FAMILY, so is the way of the other cities. Think about it, what is the cost for NYC to send a homeless person to Hawaii versus Florida? Or San Francisco to send a homeless to Hawaii versus Arizona? When they do send a person to Hawaii its because Hawaii is their state of residence and/or they have family. It's more fear mongering to mention such a thing because it's all smoke and mirrors.

[Guest]

Bob -

Some may say it's an "urban legend" that people have been sent one way tickets.

Other municipalities may tell you there shipping homeless people back to their families in Hawaii.

But having lived on Oahu next to the Ala Wai park and feeding homeless people on several occassions... I believe this story.

I will give for example the gentlemen named "Ron" from Chicago. What he told me, is that employees at a business chipped in to give him a one-way ticket to Hawaii.

Ron said it was his choice to live in the streets in Chicago (by this business) or come and live in Hawaii where the temperatures didn't get to a freezing point in the winter.

It's very easy to live in Hawaii homeless.

There have been studies that I can't find this moment about Veterans that specifically choose to come to Hawaii because of the Veteran services here... although they still remain homeless.

I consider myself more of an "Advocate" for the homeless, because I've been very close to being homeless before. More people then society wants to believe are just a paycheck away from being homeless.

However, as others have said on this board before about the economy and the way things are shaping up in society.... they would rather live in these economic conditions here in Hawaii then anywhere else.

Does anyone think that philosophy wouldn't hold true for a homeless person? I know if I was homeless on the mainland and offered a one-way ticket to Hawaii... I'd be jumping all over it.

Damon Tucker's Weblog

[Bob Orts]

There has not been a single substantiated or verified case of homeless dumping on Hawaii. All the news organizations that have done stories on it say that when you strip away the myth, it ended up being the people came here on their own at their expense. Those cases where people were paid, by a government agency, to come to Hawaii was because they had a direct, immediate, or legal connection to Hawaii. Nobody, including the DOJ (which did investigate the claims), found any person who was here because of dumping. It’s just not true.

[amf217]

I worked as a Po-Po in the Florida Keys it was standard practice to county line the homeless, Dade county had help for them Monroe County didn't. I find it hard to believe that they would fly them to Hawaii but wouldn't say they didn't

[Bob Orts]

The legislator said that other states were "dumping" homeless on Hawaii. They have failed to produce even one case of dumping. Dumping and relocation are two completely different things. Under federal law relocation is legal but dumping across state lines is illegal. So far all Hawaii has is examples of legal relocation (the exact same thing they are proposing) but can't show one case of a homeless person being dumped on Hawaii.

[David M]

So I guess if I'm homeless in Freezinmybutt, Mainland and I tell the powers that are, "Yea, I got family or connections in Hawaii", they might give me a ticket, but if I say, "Heck no, don't know a soul in Hawaii, but would sure like to go" I won't get a ticket. And should I stretch the truth just a tad, then once here, I'd be quicker than frost melts to tell anyone the absolute truth and hope I don't get set back. OK, makes sense to me. The mainland homeless only move to Hawaii to be homeless with their family.

David

Ninole Resident

[Bob Orts]

Is it possible that some state paid a person to move to Hawaii to get rid of them? Yeah, it's possible just like it's possible that Hawaii paid someone to move to another state just to get rid of them.

My point is that what is being said to garner public support is a distortion of the truth (came from a politician so what did we expect). What they are accusing others of doing is the exact same program Hawaii has participated in for decades. They conveniently left out the facts that this is a normal part of almost all state human services programs. Hawaii was doing it so why are they complaining that others are doing it?

What Hawaii wants is funding to accelerate and increase the number of moves under a relocation program. But in these tough economic times, taxpayers will probably balk at funding free trips back to the mainland. So the politicians had to find an angle that stirred emotions and they make it sound like other states are “dumping” on Hawaii. Since a portion of the program money comes from the feds, and this is a hot button after TX got caught dumping on CA and FL, the states can’t “Dump” on another state. So New York can’t buy a ticket to Hawaii just to get rid of a homeless person because that’s where the person wants to go, but can pay for a ticket to Hawaii if the homeless person has family or friends who’s willing to agree to provide assistance. Likewise, under the current program, all states including Hawaii must go through a checklist to ensure it’s not “Dumping”. What they are looking for is more money to ramp this up to clear the beaches and parks. The politicians are counting on the people to be naïve enough to swallow this bull and back the plan based on a lie.