Oregon Anti-Sanctuary City Advocates Face Lawfare, Threats, Physical Intimidation

Article author: 
Jeff Reynolds
Article publisher: 
PJ Media
Article date: 
Saturday, July 7, 2018
Article category: 
Oregon Issues
Medium
Article Body: 
A group gathering signatures to repeal the Oregon law that makes the state a defacto sanctuary for illegal aliens has faced legal action, threats, and harassment of its signature gatherers. The group, Oregonians for Immigration Reform (OFIR), has also been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
 
One volunteer signature gatherer told PJ Media that she faced verbal harassment and physical intimidation while attempting to get folks to sign the petition:
 
She claimed that our petition was dividing America. Putting fear in Hispanics. She called me a racist, lectured me for some time about how she wanted me to stop what I was doing, we were racists because we were all white, and hateful, and unwanted by society. I told her that many people who had immigrated here legally were our biggest supporters. She said she couldn't imagine anyone even wanting to support and associate with us.
 
In addition, she says opponents physically blocked her when people approached her to sign the petition.
 
Now, in an apparently frivolous legal matter, the University of Oregon has issued a cease and desist order for alleged copyright infringement. The cease and desist letter threatens legal action if OFIR fails to stop using the Oregonians for Immigration Reform "O" (with the tree inside) because the University of Oregon’s lawyers says they received evidence from Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán (MEChA), a radical University of Oregon student group, that claims it is too similar to the University of Oregon's "O," essentially trying to halt its signature-gathering campaign.
 
OFIR states that it has had the same logo since 2000, and the only person or entity to complain in 18 years has been MEChA. Notably, MEChA appears to be using trademark law to stifle political opponents by stating that they don’t like the politics of OFIR and urging the U of O to take action against the group.
 
The ballot initiative, IP 22, has three Republican state legislators as chief sponsors: Mike Nearman, Sal Esquivel, and Greg Barreto. A spokesman for OFIR would not say how many signatures they have collected so far, but expressed confidence that they are on target to submit a significant number by the deadline of July 6....
 
Note that the change to the statute would simply allow Oregon state agencies to comply with federal immigration law.
 
For this, everyone involved has been branded a racist, white supremacist, and even a member of a hate group – as defined by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
 
Previous failures to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have led to disastrous consequences for Oregon residents, like the rape victim in a nice neighborhood of Portland in 2017....
 

 

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