Portland a leader or lawbreaker in sanctuary city debate?

Letter date: 
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
Letter publisher: 
OregonLive.com
Letter author: 
Dennis Ortega
Letter body: 

FOLLOW THE LAW: It should be obvious to all that Portland (and Oregon) should not be a sanctuary city for the simple fact that it is willfully ignoring and breaking federal law when it refuses to report and relinquish illegal aliens to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This unlawful act has been confirmed by the Department of Justice's Inspector General through a published memorandum finding that the practices of sanctuary jurisdictions violate federal law.

Simply put, this act of lawlessness is anarchy. If all the citizens of Portland decided to selectively break a law they did not like the city officials and police could hardly complain as they too are the same law breakers.

The worst corruption of Portland as a sanctuary city is that by spitefully defying coordination with ICE, Portland is helping to thwart the deportation of illegal criminal aliens. This includes those illegal aliens who are known murderers, rapists, thieves and narcotic traffickers. This means that Portland is partially culpable for any citizen that is murdered, raped or has acts of violence perpetrated upon them by an illegal alien who was not previously detained and turned-over to federal authorities. This act of unlawful defiance by Portland leads to violence against its own citizens. And further, this defiance weakens the sovereignty of the United States of America. Unforgivable on all counts.