All Issues and News
Welcome to the OFIR Issues and News page. All issue and news articles are consolidated here for viewing.
They urge voters to turn measure down
Statesman Journal (Salem)
2014-04-18
A state organization comprised of elected sheriffs voted Thursday to oppose Measure 301, a November ballot measure that would allow the state to issue driver’s cards to residents who cannot prove their identities.
The Sheriffs Of Oregon Political Action Committee (SOO-PAC) represents 36 sheriffs statewide, and 28 of them voted against the measure, which supporters say would allow people to obtain insurance and drive legally, thus making the roads safer for all. The sheriffs’ organization is urging voters to oppose the measure as well.
The bill and ballot measure have been...
Oregonlive.com
2014-04-16
Undocumented immigrants in the metro area will no longer be held in county lockups for the sole purpose of deportation, a change that has implications statewide.
Wednesday’s announcement by sheriff’s agencies in Washington, Multnomah and Clackamas counties follows a federal judge’s ruling that Clackamas County violated one woman’s Fourth Amendment rights by holding her for immigration authorities without probable cause.
Maria Miranda-Olivares was held 19 hours after completing a two-day sentence in Clackamas County Jail while U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials...
The Associated Press
2014-04-13
...Rep. Steve Israel of New York said Sunday that not all Republicans are motivated by racism but many in the GOP oppose a bipartisan immigration bill on those grounds...
...Nancy Pelosi blamed racial issues for the GOP's failure to act on comprehensive immigration legislation.
Oregon's Rep. Greg Walden, who heads Republicans' efforts to elect House members, said Pelosi's comment was "both wrong and unfortunate."
Israel and Walden spoke on CNN's "State of the Union."
OregonLive.com
2014-04-10
A man arrested Wednesday night for allegedly shooting a BB gun at a car in Oregon City turned out to be an convicted felon who had been deported to Mexico two years ago.
Jiminez-Barragan provided a fake Mexican driver's license. Police searched the truck and said they found a BB gun, $6,600 in cash and about five grams of heroin. Jiminez-Barragan, 28, then gave police a second phony name. After he was fingerprinted, police learned his real identity.
Jiminez-Barragan was deported more than two years ago and had illegally returned about a month ago, police said. He was...
Adelante Mujeres requests support for Cinthya Garcia-Cisneros, convicted in Forest Grove fatal crash
OregonLive.com
2014-04-09
Adelante Mujeres is requesting additional support for Cinthya Garcia-Cisneros, the driver convicted of felony hit-and-run in the Oct. 20 crash that killed two young Forest Grove stepsisters.
...An immigration judge declined to grant her bond last month, a decision that keeps her in custody while her case plays out...
Now leaders of the Forest Grove nonprofit are asking...
1. Request that Kitzhaber pardon her felony convictions...
2. Request that federal legislators intervene ...
"Both letters and calls will be crucial to inspire our elected officials...
Fox News Latino
2014-04-08
Call it the Jeb Bush, establishment-Republican variation on “they are just looking for a better life” cliché. And let’s just call him “Jeb.”
Apparently American families – of all descriptions – are not a priority for Jeb when it comes to the politics of dutifully providing the business bosses with “cheap” labor. (D.A. King)
In what should be the last words of a viable presidential campaign probe, Jeb defends the victims of borders who illegally enter the remnants of the Republic and take American jobs with the unforgettable words "yes, they broke the law, but it's not a...
OregonLive.com
2014-04-03
The Oregon Supreme Court has certified a ballot title for the driver card referendum on the November ballot that includes a controversial reference to "legal presence."
The title will read: Provides Oregon resident "driver card" without requiring proof of legal presence in the United States.
...The titles are sometimes the only thing voters will read about a measure...
Supporters unsuccessfully pursued a legislative rewrite of the ballot title...
In its April 1 decision, the Oregon Supreme Court certified the ballot title written by Attorney General Ellen...
StatesmanJournal.com
2014-04-02
Despite attempts by various parties to change a ballot initiative’s title and alter its summary for voters, the state Supreme Court last week ordered that Referendum 301 be upheld as certified in 2013 by the Secretary of State’s office and named by state attorney general.
Last October, the groups Oregonians for Immigration Reform and Protect Oregon Driver Licenses, submitted almost 60,000 signatures to overturn legislation, Senate Bill 833, that had been passed by lawmakers and signed by Gov. John Kitzhaber earlier in 2013.
The groups opposed the bi-partisan backed bill,...
Florida men caught with over 100 counterfeit credit cards linked to Portland-area thefts, police say
OregonLive.com
2014-04-01
Two Florida men are facing aggravated identity theft charges after Beaverton police say they were found with more than 100 counterfeit credit cards and other items used to hit several Portland area retailers.
Raul Alejandro Gonzalez-Rodriguez, 26, of Miami, and Yasser Ramon Hernandez, 28, of Miami, were arrested at the Portland International Airport...
...The duo allegedly targeted stores including Nordstrom, Staples, Office Depot, Toys R' Us, Burlington Coat Factory, Dick's Sporting Goods, Sears, JC Penney and TJ Maxx...
Gonzalez-Rodriguez admitted to using the...
An Australian man pleads guilty to using the Internet to lure a Sweet Home teen into a sexual relationship
The Register Guard
2014-04-01
An Australian man is being deported back to his home country after pleading guilty Monday to using the Internet to lure a Sweet Home teenager into a sexual relationship.
Rowan Thomson-Sapstead was sentenced to time already served in the case and will be turned over to immigration authorities for deportation. He entered a plea in U.S. District Court in Eugene to a charge of using a computer to transmit obscene communications to a minor.
Police in Linn County arrested Thomson-Sapstead, 31, in January. According to police, he arrived in Sweet Home in December from Canada, where...
