 Hi everyone, welcome back to our show. I am Barbara Duluca, you're a host along with Marisol Ruiz. I am the president co-founder and Marisol is our vice president and co-founder. We're the voice for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Hawaii and we are so excited to bring our guest on today. He was a board member and our guest is Kevin Block, Maui immigration attorney. And our episode today is on the Lahaina fires and the immigration population there. And we'll be talking about protecting and supporting our immigrant community. And as they are part of our beautiful Aina here in Hawaii. So welcome to the show, Kevin. Thank you, thanks for having me. So Kevin, we're so happy, we know you're so busy and anytime we have an opportunity to talk to you, even if it's for a few minutes, it's an honor. So thank you for giving us this half hour to share with us what you're doing out there in Maui, but we wanna start a little bit with just, let's start simple, give us a little bit about your background, you know what brought you here to Hawaii, who is Kevin Block, all those wonderful things if you wouldn't mind, starting with that. Okay, so I'm 58 years old, my husband and I live in Kula. We have a son who's from Mexico. He was our foster son that we adopted and he's married and we have, he has three kids, so I'm a grandfather. And I became a lawyer kind of later in life. I sort of did it, but a lot of other stuff first. And then I went to law school and took the bar and passed in 2012. I worked for the County Office of Immigrant Services. So for the government side from 2009 to 2014, so while I was becoming a lawyer, I was working for the County. And then when I passed the bar, I opened my own practice in 2014 here in Wailuku and I've been practicing ever since. And I have a small practice that does mostly, well, sort of half and half, family-based immigration. So if family members are bringing their spouses or their children here, and then I also do a lot of removal defense and asylum cases, I specialize in asylum. And I'm also on the board of the legal clinic, which provides low and no cost legal help to immigrants. It's based on Oahu. And I'm also on the advisory committee of the refugee and immigration law clinic at the law school where I also teach asylum law to the immigration law clinic. And then I'm also on the board of the Hawaii ACLU, the Hawaii affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union. So that's a little bit about me. I mean, there's a lot more but I'd rather talk about what we're doing. Oh, that's a lot about you. Thank you for sharing. So I know you were here recently on Oahu. You were a keynote speaker for the Hawaii Justice Foundation and you did receive an award. So can we talk about that and then look onto your work on what's going on in Maui and Lahaina? Yeah, so the Hawaii Justice Foundation is a nonprofit that manages a large fund that comes from the Attorney Client Trust Funds and they give money to practitioners and organizations that are providing help to folks that don't usually receive access to justice. So legal aid societies, people that work with public defenders, domestic violence organizations and they heard about the work I was doing on Maui with the folks that were displaced by the fire and they offered me some money to continue to provide pro bono services to folks who lost everything. And then they asked me to be the keynote speaker at their annual meeting and give them sort of a report on what's been going on on the ground and on Maui in terms of immigrants and their access to both legal services and benefits, some of the help that was available. And while after I gave my speech, they gave me this award, which was somewhat unexpected and it was really nice. Unexpected and well deserved. Thank you for all you do. Can we talk a little bit about what kind of work you've been doing on Lahaina? Right, so, you know, the access to help when there's a situation where folks are gonna require assistance was something that the immigrant community has always struggled with but it became particularly apparent and obvious during COVID, right? So during COVID, I had folks in the immigrant community who were reluctant to get the help that was available to them because of a number of different reasons. There's some cultural obstacles, you know, immigrants feel that they're constantly under scrutiny and particularly with regard to whether they're getting free stuff, right? So they really don't try to get any kind of help. They do things on their own, right? We don't need any help from anybody. So, and then there's certain immigration benefits that are impacted by whether you have ever received public benefits in the past, which, you know, 90% of the public benefits that are available to Americans are not available to immigrants despite what you may hear or see in the media, immigrants are not eligible for free stuff, for general assistance, food stamps, health insurance, none of that. But even if they were, they probably wouldn't take it because they don't wanna impact their ability in the future to be on the pathway to citizenship. So that's fine most of the time when it becomes a problem is when, like during COVID or after the fire when, you know, folks were, because of those reasons were reluctant to apply for help from FEMA or the Red Cross because they weren't sure if they were eligible or if it would impact them at some future date. And they were also nervous and scared because some of the, you know, many of my immigrant clients are in mixed status families. So they may have United States citizens in their family. They may have lawful permanent residence, but they may also have folks that are undocumented, meaning they entered with a visa a long time ago and never adjusted their status or changed their status. And now they're undocumented or they came across the border. And so even though the family members who are citizens or who have children who are born here are eligible for those benefits, the family itself as a whole may be reluctant to apply because they don't want to draw attention to themselves or get their family member in trouble. So during COVID, I remember a family called me up and said, hey, my church has boxes of food that they're giving out and we could use that, but we are scared. We're like, we don't know if we should get a box of food from our church. So that's just one of the many examples I like to give to show that in these sort of natural disasters or events like COVID and the fire, there's a large portion of the population that is just hunkered down in their houses not getting help from anybody. That's what we noticed after the fire. During, after the fire, it became apparent that close to 30% of those impacted, meaning those who lost their homes were foreign born. So they were immigrant families. And in Lahaina, what we're talking about is mostly four big groups. So there's Mexicans in Central and South Americans. There's Tongans, there's Filipinos, and then there's folks from the Kofa countries which are the Compact of Free Association. So Marshallese, Chiquis, Pompeii, and Kosherian or Yappies, but mostly Marshallese and Chiquis here on Maui. So all those groups of people represent 30% of the population that was impacted and they just weren't applying for FEMA. They weren't applying for Red Cross help. They weren't getting SBA loans. They weren't getting unemployment. And it was really hard because boy, after the fire, nobody, I mean, there was no food for a while. It was really, we really got down to basics. The Lahaina was shut off. People needed help and they weren't getting it. Yeah, but I have a question. I mean, what you're saying really resonates. I mean, I haven't experienced anything tragic like that, but coming from, my parents are undocumented, both of them, Mexico and El Salvador. And I completely understand coming from a space of, for them, was fear. They didn't seek any help. I mean, I remember I had to get my appendix taken out and they would not take me to the hospital for fear of, they might catch us and send us back in what's gonna happen, right? So you kind of figure it out on your own. So for you and your organization and the resources that you have, we might have all the tools and resources, right? But how do you get the community to reach out or how do you reach out to them? How do you get them to trust you? Because at the end of the day, trust I think is a really big factor, right? Where can we go to, where is our safe space where we can do these things? Because we do have the tools and the resources. They don't have access. So where do you bridge that gap? So that's- Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, that is the question. I think this is a good segue to talking about Root Reborn because Root Reborn is a new nonprofit that started in the aftermath of the fire, literally within a few days myself and a couple other civil rights and immigration attorneys were like, hey, this is gonna be bad. We knew that it was bad and we were like, I think the thing that really got to me was right after the fire, there were people that were missing, like literally missing. And there was confusion about who they were and how to involve their family members. You know, their family members were either looking for their missing family members or looking for help. And there was also a language barrier. So this group of young folks who are from Lahaina who have immigrant parents actually started organizing on their own. They were passing around lists of translators and interpreters and they were organizing on social media. And then we sort of got together with them because I know a lot of them because a lot of them have DACA, which is the DREAM Act that started in 2012. So I did all their DACA applications and I've watched them. I've known them since high school and I've watched them grow up and have kids now. And so we sort of, I reached out to them, they reached out to us and we started this organization. And the other big thing that was highlighted during those first few weeks after the fire was that the remains of folks that were being found required DNA testing. And so for the same reasons that folks didn't wanna access benefits, they were reluctant to give their DNA because they thought that it might get them in trouble later. And so they weren't able to match people or identify some of the people that were left over. So we really realized that they're needed to be accurate information disseminated in their languages in Tongan, Ilocano, which for the Filipino families, Marshallese and Spanish. So the other thing about those young folks is that they're from the neighborhood and I've been around for a long time and we just want, you asked how do you build trust in the community? There is no substitute for putting in the work. Like you have to put in the years of work so that people know who you are. And when all these FEMA folks came in, I mean, they did a great job but they were not from here. And so people were very nervous about giving them any information. And then I guess, because there was such a flurry of information, oh, what am I eligible for? These lawyers are contacting me because of my house burned down. Should I talk to them? Where do I get? All of it. Yeah, there was just so much information and they weren't sure what to trust. And so what we became sort of like a hub for vetting the information and then sending it out to them through the Roots Reborn Instagram, whatever you call that, the Instagram feed that was that they could trust because they knew our faces and they knew who we were. We were so honored to be, the Roots Reborn Lahaina reached out to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for the event that was just on Maui for the Dia that was more of those to celebrate and honor those that have passed. And it was such a beautiful event, right, Marisol? And it was great. I didn't really know what to expect but they had a beautiful gathering. I mean, I could hear people talking, they were giving away free food, they had beautiful ofrendas, altars, they had mariachi that came in from a California, no? Is that we ever? Yeah. They were phenomenal. I mean, it was wonderful and just the community was together. I mean, they probably could have had even more people, I think, but they were just, it was wonderful. I mean, everyone had nothing but wonderful things to say about it, yeah. Right. So like, that's kind of like why the name is significant. Like, you know, the hillside by my house in Kula, you know, I live in the neighborhood in Kula where everything burnt and my house almost burned down. And the hillside by my house was on fire the next day for about a week. It kept flaring up. But now there's, what's that? It's not you and your neighbor is on Facebook, I believe, fighting the fire just right by your property line. Right. But now there's not to get to Pollyanna about this, but now there's green, beautiful plants growing on that hillside. And I think similarly, like Roots Reborn, you know, it was born out of the tragedy of the fire, but what they want to do is they want to go forward into the future as a resource and a organization for supporting and uplifting our immigrant community because what we realized after the fire is that they're a huge part of the Lahaina community and the Hawaii community at large and they need to be kind of incorporated to a greater level. And so that's why Roots Reborn, even though it stood up for tragic reasons, it really has the potential going forward to become a voice for advocating for this important part of the community. I mean, those are the folks that are working in those hotels and living in Lahaina when you went to the hubs after the fire, it was clear that they were part of the community. I mean, I saw my DACA clients hugging their neighbors and everybody acts and lives as a community in Lahaina. And so it has become really apparent and important that they feel a part of the recovery effort. 30% is huge because it's the service industry, a lot of our community is working there in Mali. And like you said, it's incredible for us the fact that, I mean, we went out there as a Hispanic chamber and thank you for inviting us so we could get out there into the community and we brought one of our restaurant owners at the straight out of house made 300 tamales and we flew them out there and fed the community. And it was just good to get our name out there and start building those relationships. Yeah. And like you said, the grass is green from where it burns and now it's beautiful and green. And I felt the same way when I saw that pond, pink. I love what it looks like. The pink pond. Yeah, it's a phenomenon, but for me it was just like something born out of a tragedy too, it was beautiful. Exactly. Yeah, so I guess, as going forward from this point on, I think one of the big issues that I think we're facing two big issues right now in La Jaina, so the immediate need was for document replacement, right? People lost everything in the fire, they lost their passports, they lost their green cards, they lost their citizenship applications, they lost their social security. Lots of my clients keep their money in cash in their house and they lost all their money. So we addressed those immediate needs, food, shelter, immediate shelter, document replacement. But now we're sort of in phase two, which is that 7,000 people were displaced and housing was already tight, right? So imagine being a family with one or two undocumented folks, you know, a big extended family with multi-generational and trying to look for housing in a housing market where there's no available inventory. Plus, you know, it's scary and you're competing with the other folks that are looking for housing and it's just, so we're looking at a wave of housing issues that are coming like today. Like one of the hotels is kicking out 600 people as of today or tomorrow and it's not clear where they're gonna go. And then I think the other big, I'm not a doctor, but I feel like mental health is gonna be one of the issues that we face. I mean, some of the folks went through some really, you know, really intense stuff. I mean, it's when you drive out, did you guys go out to Lahaina? We didn't get into Lahaina, it was closed off, right? I mean, we're, yeah, I mean, it was, everything was, there was definitely a small barrier, but no, we couldn't get in, no. Right, but you drove out that way, right? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. It's terrible. One of our board members, Dr. Lisa Sanchez Johnson, she's working with the mental health issues out on Molly. Yeah, yeah, I mean, there's resources here, but again, there's cultural barriers in the, particularly in the Latino community, as you know, to getting that kind of help, right? And there's- Oh, for sure. Oh yeah. Later on, so you can figure this out, you're okay, like yeah, there's a huge stigma about mental health and talking about it and it's unfortunate, but you know, it's these kinds of things and organizations and people and our generations now, they're saying, hey, it's okay, but it's definitely a huge stigma, unfortunately in our community. Yeah, yeah, just today, I had a family in my office who lost their house and the woman's my age and she was talking about, she had been left home by her husband because they have one car and she had her mother visiting from Mexico and the fire was getting closer and the thick black smoke was coming and she's like, they were trying to call it Uber and obviously there were no Uber's and she was like, yeah, finally one of their neighbors came and let them use the car to drive out of line and like just in time and I was like, I said to her, wow, you could have died and she's like, yeah, I know and she's, I mean, I don't think she's getting PTSD treatment or anything like she's just gone back to work and is, you know, soldiering on. So I think that those are the two things that I think we need to pay attention to going forward or housing and mental health. So that's the next wave is the mental health crisis and the housing shortage, it's a crisis, right? Yeah. You know, I'm fifth generation but I had no idea that applying for some services could affect your status in the future, I didn't know that, that's unfortunate, you know, and you're afraid of what you can qualify for but what if I apply for it and disqualifies me for other services? So it's good to have people that you can trust like yourselves that speak Spanish or whatever language to help you disseminate all the information and feel like it's okay to apply, you know. Yeah. But everything is education, right? Because in our respective fields, like that's your kind of area of expertise and if we make the effort, Barbara's in real estate and lending and with your immigration law is educated. We know what we know, we're experts in our field but it's amazing what people don't know and it's getting out there and just educating and educating and showing them so that they can make better decisions, right? And the right decisions because they don't know any better, right? Yeah. That's huge. I agree. I think that trust I think is really, really important. And I'm thankful to Think Tech Hawaii, right? For offering us this platform to share information with our community. Definitely, 100%. Yeah, I think there's two pieces to it for like, for the FEMA relief that was available, there was eligibility and then there was access. So we spent a lot of time giving people the information about whether they were eligible but sometimes people, even if they are eligible, won't access the benefit or the help because of those many reasons that we discussed. So that is the challenge, right? And even in our being in the Latino population, we start businesses at a higher rate. We're entrepreneurs. And the fact that we only get 1% of the capital to help us with our businesses, we're used to depending on each other and borrowing from family members to start our business and get them going. It's just part of who we are. But like you said, we'll figure it out but there are resources out there. So knowing who you can trust and applying for it. Yeah, and the resilience of the immigrant community is just so like inspiring. Like one of my clients that I've known for years, I've known her since her kids were little and now her kids are grown but she, they have this amazing food truck called Las Islas Mariscos and they have the best Biria tacos, quesitacos in the world. Oh, in the world, look how much. And their food truck burned down in La Jaina and theirs has been up and running in Cajalui across from Costco for a month already. And it's every time I go there, there'll be like two or three people at the other food trucks and then there's like a line of 20 people to get Biria quesitacos. That's awesome. Kevin, can you just really quickly before we sign up, can you talk a little bit about like your firm, how many of you in the firm do your bilingual obviously, which is a wonderful asset. If somebody wanted to come to you, seek your services. Oh yeah. Or can you provide? Yeah, so Maui Immigration Law is there's myself. Liz Cortez is my paralegal. She has DACA herself. She was born in Guerrero, Mexico. She's amazing. And she's probably the first person you would talk to if you called her office. And then we have another attorney that works for us named Courtney Goodlow and we do family-based petitions, citizenship applications, DACA renewals. We do removal defense, asylum cases. We have a lot of the young kids that came that are applying for asylum. Those are a lot of our cases. There's also a new immigrant resource center on Maui that's part of the Pacific Gateway Center that offers free help with a range of issues for immigrants. And then like I mentioned before on Oahu, there's the legal clinic. It's literally, that's the name of it, the legal clinic and they offer help and also the law school at UH Richardson has a clinic that can help immigrants. So all of us together provide lots of help for folks. You know, I have a real quick question. So in 2024 when you travel, we have to have that new ID with a star on it. What happens if you don't have that type of documentation or that ID? Can you, how are they gonna travel? Easy answer, just use your passport. Thank you, I don't have a passport if I wouldn't know this. I gotta get out this island more. Gotta get out more. Yes, thank you so much. Is there anything else you'd like to leave us with? Any takeaways? No, I would just say that the immigrant community brings so much to the Maui, to Maui and to Hawaii. And I think that the recent events here on Maui have highlighted the fact that they are here among us and they're gonna be part of the recovery and we always do things better together. And so that's part of the together is to incorporate all of us. And how do our viewers find you? How can they contact you? We have a website, Immigration Law Maui. And if you Google Maui Immigration Lawyer, you'll find me and yeah, that's pretty much the best way. All of our contact stuff is on our website. Great, is there anything else you wanna add, Madison? No, it's great. I mean, we could talk for a long time with Kevin. I'm so glad that you spent time with us. We're cheesy. Thank you so much Kevin. It's an honor to speak with you. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate the opportunity. Of course, that was a quick half hour. It goes by so fast. I wish we had more time. Thank you for joining us. This is Ola Iroha and Tink Tak, Hawaii. Thank you to my co-host, Marisol. Thank you to our guest, Kevin Block, from Maui Immigration. December 6th is our next show and our guest is going to be Ana Valdez, president and CEO of the Latino Donor Collaborative and she is the queen of Latino stats. So we're gonna go over the stats of what we contribute to the mainstream economy in the United States. It's gonna be exciting, $3.2 trillion to the GDP and all that good stuff. So thank you to our viewers. Yes, thank you for joining us. And adiós y aloha.