Oregon doesn’t have the most admirable history when it comes to systemic racism, but now, and never, is it time to engage in even more of it. Put forth by a group of three Republican Oregon lawmakers, Measure 105 seeks to repeal the 1987 Oregon law that forbids state agencies, including law enforcement, from using state resources or people to detect or apprehend people suspected of being in violation of federal immigration law.
Among the people coming out against Measure 105 is Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel, who says that the current law already provides clear guidance to local law enforcement officials about how to handle immigration issues. Local police are already allowed to hold undocumented immigrants and to turn them over to immigration officials. Repealing the “sanctuary law,” as it’s sometimes called, “could force local police to be immigration agents and make more Oregonians afraid to report crimes or testify as witnesses. Even crime victims won’t talk to prosecutors, leaving us in the dark and our neighborhoods less safe,” Hummel said in a recent TV ad.
What’s more, repealing the current law could see Oregonians falling prey to a rising tide of xenophobia and racism in our state and nation. Local law enforcement officials should not be empowered to act as federal immigration agents. They already have enough to do. Vote No on Measure 105.
This article appears in Oct 10-17, 2018.
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Our sanctuary law was originally a way to protect the limited budgets and resources of local law enforcement agencies . There is currently NOTHING in current law that prohibits local law enforcement from cooperating with the feds if someone is arrested for a crime. Local LEO just can’t roll around and stop people and demand their papers..you know…what the feds do….profile people on the basis of skin color, and tear families apart. This measure is driven by deliberate misinformation and racism. It perpetuates the myth of all foreign people being either criminals or terrorists. Oh wait…that’s non-white immigrants. There plenty of illegal immigrants from European countries like Ireland, Poland…and outside of Europe like Russia…but I don’t see any of them being swept up in raids or being called rapists on TV. No joke, I met a guy from Russia on a tourist visa, and two weeks later he was in NYC working at an electronics store after leaving his to pursue the good life here. I don’t here Jeff Sessions complaining about that guy.