enforcement

BEND, Ore. - As about a dozen supporters rallied outside, a man and woman protesting Republicans' inaction on immigration reform staged a sit-in at Rep. Greg Walden's Bend office Wednesday, saying they won't leave until they are arrested -- and they were.

After police were called to the Bond Street office of the congressman, Greg Delgado and Ann Havill still refused to leave, were cited for criminal trespass and released, said Officer Rob Emerson.

Here's the news release issued earlier by Causa, a statewide Latino immigrant rights organization:

It’s been nearly a year since the U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan immigration bill, and during that time, House Republicans have used nearly every excuse in the book as to why they can’t finish the job and pass comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship.

Today, in solidarity with actions happening around the nation, members of the Central Oregon community are holding a sit-in and rally at Congressman Greg Walden's District office in Bend. They are demanding that Congressman Walden take action immediately on reforming our nation's broken immigration system.

“He has admitted that the system is broken, but he has yet to do anything”, said Greg Delgado, Causa's Central Oregon Organizer. “ We urge him to sign the discharge petition, take action on the Immigration Reform Bill already passed by the U.S. Senate or have the U.S. House create a bill.”

Delgado added, “It’s now or never for the GOP. We’re here today to remind Congressman Walden and Republicans: your time is nearly up. They either heed the calls of their constituents and call Speaker Boehner to demand he schedule a vote by June 28^th, or sit idly as their party kisses the White House—and eventually Congress—goodbye for decades to come.”

“The future of the Republican Party is on the line," he added." "Doing nothing will sever their ties with Latino, Asian, and immigrant voters for decades. Unless they come out publicly against the Republican obstruction, every House Republican is responsible for blocking immigration reform, and they will be blamed for tearing apart our families and communities.”

STOP SEPARATING FAMILIES: We are calling on Congressman Greg Walden and Republicans to show moral courage and leadership by calling for a vote in the House on Comprehensive Immigration Reform with a path to citizenship.

Who: Human rights advocates, farmworkers, students, faith leaders, labor community and Central Oregon residents committed to passing immigration reform that respects the dignity and the rights of all immigrants and includes a path to citizenship. Read more about Sit-in protesters arrested at Walden's Bend office

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...

...The detained driver provided a Mexico driver license that was later determined to be fake with a false name and date of birth. Subsequent investigation also led to the discovery of a BB gun in the pickup, approximately 5 grams of suspected heroin, and over $6,600 cash.

...The suspect provided another name and date of birth that also proved to be false. He said he was deported over 2 years ago and had illegally returned about a month ago...

  Read more about Convicted felon deported to Mexico 2 years ago, arrested after shooting BB gun at car

Hundreds gather in front of the Capitol for the annual May Day Rally & March, which seeks equality for all.

All ages, colors and species showed up for the May Day Rally and March at the Capitol today, demonstrating their support for the cause of equality for all.

Hundreds gathered in the street in front of the seat of state government, holding signs and wearing T-shirts seeking a spotlight for their cause.

There were groups seeking Driver's Cards for residents and urging them to vote for a referendum on the issue in November, while others sought a solid education for all children. Still other groups worked the crowd into a froth for immigration reform and better worker wage and safety protections.

Tim Stoelb, president of the Oregon School Employees Association, stood in front of a table laden with T-shirts and fliers. He and volunteers were there in support of immigration reform, having sent the membership, and anyone else who would listen, fliers and emails urging them to attend the rally and march.

"The issue is important to us because what's going on now is splitting families, which then has a significant impact on children and their ability to learn," Stoelb said. "It's hard for children to focus on their education when they are suffering the emotional trauma of having family members taken from them."

Stoelb said it's time for communities to understand that this an issue that affects more than people of color.

"One child's suffering hurts the entire class because it takes the teacher's time and attention away from the rest of the students," Stoelb said. "Children are impacted through no fault of their own. We want to reclaim the promise of education to help all children succeed."

There were plenty of children with their parents and other adults at the rally. There also were plenty of leashed dogs enjoying the sunshine and constant petting. Children clung to pant legs, scampered across the Capitol steps, and inched curiously toward an incense burner displayed in front of the Titlakawan group. The Aztecs, in full regalia, danced and played drums to lend their support to the idea of equality for all.

The polite crowd used crosswalks, and waved their protest signs in front of Oregon passing motorists until city of Salem public works staff and the Mobile Response Team -- Salem police officers on bicycles -- closed off Court Street NE in front of the Capitol. Also on hand to help with crowd control were Salem Police Department motorcycle officers.

Amid the frenzied crowd, there was much cheering while volunteer signature gathers seized the opportunity to register folks to vote. The Aztec drum group kept a steady beat.

The weather, which in years past has not cooperated, was textbook perfect with plenty of sunshine and a cool breeze. The crowd continued to swell approaching the noon hour, and the start of the march.
  Read more about Capitol May Day rally draws a crowd

 About 500 people gathered at the Capitol on Thursday for the annual May Day rally and march in support of driver cards, comprehensive immigration reform, civil rights, same-sex marriage and workers rights...

...Comprehensive immigration reform has stalled in the U.S. House. In Oregon, voters in November will decide whether to grant driving privileges to Oregonians who can't prove they're in the state (country) legally...

Thursday's crowd was about a quarter of the size of last year's rally, when Gov. John Kitzhaber signed the driver cards bill into law in front of a rapturous crowd of 2,000. Opponents gathered enough signatures to send the law to the November ballot.

Instead of celebrating a victory this year, many of the May Day speeches and signs focused on defending driver cards and rallying support for the November referendum. Supporters registered voters and recruited volunteers.

"This is a solidarity thing -- we're celebrating workers, immigrants and others," said Darlene Huntress, executive director of Oregon Action, a Portland group that works for economic and social justice. "We have a lot of work to do to engage our base and educate Oregonians about what this law is about: fairness and giving our economy what it needs by letting people get to work."...

  Read more about May Day: Oregonians rally to support driver cards, immigration reform, civil rights

(Washington, D.C. April 23, 2014) As the Obama administration edges closer to unilaterally halting all enforcement of U.S. immigration laws, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is staging an elaborate effort designed to create the illusion of public support for this sweeping and unconstitutional exercise of executive authority, charged the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

On Tuesday, Secretary Jeh Johnson met with two dozen immigration policy "stakeholders," all of whom have been part of a campaign to pressure the Obama administration to halt deportations of illegal aliens and implement a de facto amnesty under the guise of prosecutorial discretion. The 24 individuals who met with Johnson represented illegal alien advocacy groups, cheap labor lobbyists, and other outspoken opponents of immigration enforcement.

Since President Obama ordered DHS to review its deportation practices in March, Secretary Johnson has held numerous meetings with political and business advocates for amnesty, but has yet to meet with individuals or organizations representing the interests of the American people.

"The most important stakeholders in U.S. immigration policy are the American people, not the people who break our laws, and not the business interests that want greater access to low-wage foreign labor," declared Dan Stein, president of FAIR. "Yet, for the past five and half years, the Obama administration has consistently refused to acknowledge the interests of struggling American workers and taxpayers who are adversely affected by excessive levels of immigration and lax enforcement.

"While the Secretary’s door is wide open to illegal aliens and their advocates, it has been slammed shut on those who advocate enforcement of U.S. immigration laws in the public interest. These include the unions representing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) personnel, sheriffs, and pro-enforcement advocacy groups," Stein said.

"No amount of staged meetings with narrow political interests and business lobbyists can alter the fact that President Obama has no constitutional authority to implement the policies these so-called stakeholders demand, as the president himself has conceded. Nor do these staged events obscure the fact that the voices of the true stakeholders in U.S. immigration policy — the American people — are being systematically excluded by a rogue administration determined to pursue its political goals at all costs," Stein concluded. Read more about DHS Stages Meeting with So-Called Immigration Stakeholders

A federal judge in Oregon has ruled that local law enforcement agencies must not comply with ICE detainers, a key tool used by ICE to take custody of criminal aliens for investigation and possible removal. As a result, nine sheriffs in Oregon announced that they would cease honoring detainers and begin releasing any arrested aliens who complete their sentence or bond out of jail before ICE has a chance to charge them.

Judge Janice Stewart's ruling is one product of a years-long campaign waged by legal activists with the support of Obama administration officials. The central issue is whether locals should treat the detainer as something they "shall" comply with, according to the language of the federal regulation, or as a "request". Her decision is particularly controversial and problematic because she went farther than some other federal judges by saying that the ICE detainer is not just a request for local authorities to grant or leave, but that granting the request by holding the alien for ICE is a civil rights violation, thus taking away all discretion from local authorities. Her decision might still be appealed or overturned through legislation, policy adjustments at ICE, or further litigation, but the short-term consequences will make it difficult for those communities struggling to address the problems created by criminal aliens.

The immediate impact is the release of many criminal aliens who will disappear rather than face charges. Some of these aliens will commit new crimes. The sheriff of Multnomah County, Ore., lifted 50 holds on the first day of the new policy and no doubt hundreds more will be released in the coming months. The ICE field office in Seattle, which covers Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, issued more than 7,500 detainers in 2013. We can expect that community groups and sheriffs will be interested in monitoring who is released and what happens as a result.

Stewart's decision affects only Oregon, but it is influential and many other jurisdictions will conclude that, for now, they have no choice but to cease holding arrested aliens for ICE in order to avoid lawsuits filed by local legal aid organizations on behalf of criminal aliens who are able to bond out on their local charges. A few states, including Arizona, Virginia, and New Jersey, may not be affected because they have already passed state laws that prohibit bail or allow higher bails to be set for illegal aliens (although these laws have been the target of litigation as well). Jurisdictions fortunate enough to have 287(g) agreements also should not be disrupted, because they are less dependent on detainers, since the designated officers have the authority to put criminal aliens on the path to removal without waiting for ICE.

The Obama administration has been directly complicit in facilitating this kind of litigation, which strikes a blow at ICE's highest priority task — the identification and removal of criminal aliens. Until recently, ICE's official position was that it expected local agencies to comply with detainers, even though it moved internally to soften the language used on the detainer forms to give locals a basis for refusing if they so choose. Those local partners that do comply have had to fend for themselves in dealing with any lawsuits on behalf of individuals they hold for ICE who turned out not to be deportable, but at least two courts have endorsed the position that detainers can reasonably be considered mandatory and sheriffs should be held harmless if they properly comply.

Enter Dan Ragsdale, the current deputy director of ICE. Several weeks ago, in response to a request for clarification submitted by the California State Sheriffs Association, which has been struggling to reconcile its view that detainers are mandatory with a new California law forbidding them to comply in certain situations, Ragsdale issued the following statement on behalf of ICE, but over the objections of senior career ICE personnel: "[W]hile immigration detainers are an important part of ICE's efforts to remove criminal aliens who are in federal, state, or local custody, they are not mandatory as a matter of law." The California sheriffs are still wondering aloud why Ragsdale made no mention of the federal regulation telling them that they "shall maintain custody" of an alien after a detainer is served.

While this development certainly will make it harder for ICE agents and officers to do their jobs, it does not necessarily mean that interior enforcement will decline any further. ICE need only make some adjustments in the way it requests the transfer of criminal aliens from local police and sheriffs, specifically by issuing warrants of arrest, and providing them as attachments to the detainers. In addition, ICE can revise the detainer form so that it can have more force when ICE has sufficient probable cause to arrest an alien, and serve as a request when that is more appropriate, for example when ICE needs to wait for a conviction. There is no reason whatsoever that ICE should not be able to maintain its current (anemic) pace of removals.

Sheriffs, on the other hand, have good reason to complain, especially if ICE does not follow through with the needed adjustments. Most sheriffs do not wish to return deportable criminals to their communities to continue preying on the people they protect. They have united to fight sanctuary policies imposed by legislatures and governors in California, Maryland, Massachusetts, and other states. Most are perfectly agreeable to cooperating with ICE, but do not want to be held liable or to be stiffed by ICE and DOJ and left twisting in the wind in court in the occasional case where something goes wrong.

Congress can help by increasing funding and creating incentives for 287(g) programs, which the Obama administration has tried to shut down. In addition, Congress should pass the SAFE Act, which cleared the House Judiciary Committee last year and makes detainers mandatory, among other needed reforms. States, too, can enact various types of legislation that would blunt the reach of the Oregon ruling and preserve federal and local discretion to cooperate. Community activists and victims' rights groups also have a role to play, by obtaining information on criminal alien releases from local authorities and making sure that their neighbors and appropriate institutions are alerted. Read more about ICE Policy Change on Detainers Fuels Lawsuits to Obstruct Enforcement

The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office has released two jail inmates who officials were holding at the request of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said Wednesday ....released suspected undocumented immigrants from custody in the county jail if there is no warrant for their arrest. The move follows a federal judge’s ruling that the county violated a woman’s Fourth Amendment rights by complying with a request to keep her by immigration officials.

The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office lifted 50 holds since the ruling.

U.S. District Court Judge Janice M. Stewart ruled Friday that county officials misinterpreted a request...

The requests to hold inmates in the jail are common, and the county complies...
  Read more about Two released from Clackamas County jail since ruling that county violated woman's Fourth Amendment rights

Both the Marion County and Polk County jails will no longer hold foreign-born persons in jail based solely on formal requests from federal immigration officials, county sheriffs announced this week.

Officials at both jails now will require a warrant from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, otherwise known as ICE, in order to keep someone in custody. Inmates previously could be held solely on a formal request from the agency known as an immigration detainer.

The policy changes were triggered by a U.S. District Court of Oregon decision announced last Friday in the case of Maria Miranda-Olivares v. Clackamas County.

In that case, Miranda-Olivares was arrested for violating a domestic violence restraining order and subsequently booked into the Clackamas County jail. As is customary policy when someone of foreign birth is lodged into the jail, officials notified ICE, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE issued a request to the jail, called an immigration detainer, that Miranda-Olivares be kept in custody up to 48 hours as ICE officials investigated her immigration status.

The trouble arose when, after Miranda-Olivares finished her court case and was supposed to be released from custody, the jail continued to keep her an additional 19 hours before she was released into the custody of Homeland Security agents.

The federal court ruled that the jail misinterpreted ICE’s request as mandatory, and violated Miranda-Olivares’s Fourth Amendment rights because keeping her at the jail essentially meant she was taken into custody a second time despite not having a new warrant for her arrest.

That decision has started a ripple effect among Oregon’s sheriffs, some of whom have swiftly acted to change their policies to comply with the law.

Marion County Sheriff Jason Myers sent out a statement Thursday saying that, effective Wednesday, the jail would no longer hold inmates based solely on immigration detainers. If ICE officials want the jail to keep someone in custody, they must issue a federal judicial warrant or court order.

“ICE may issue or forward a federal judicial warrant or order authorizing a suspected alien’s detention, and the jail will honor such warrants and orders,” the statement read. “Jail staff will continue to collect and submit information to ICE regarding foreign-born arrestees, but will not place holds upon such arrestees unless a judicial warrant or court order is received authorizing detention.”

Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Chris Baldridge confirmed that little else is changing as a result.

“Basically, what the decision says is we can’t hold on their detainers anymore,” he explained. “We will continue to share information with ICE, but if they want us to hold their detainees for them, they will have to give us a judicial warrant.”

Polk County Sheriff Bob Wolfe confirmed Friday that the Polk County jail has taken the same position.

As of April 10, there were 36 inmates in the Marion County jail with ICE holds. The jail roster Thursday afternoon had wiped all record of ICE holds.

“All of those folks are being held on detainers and those detainers are no longer valid,” Baldridge said. “So in compliance with the new court decision, we’re not going to hold them anymore on those detainers.”

That doesn’t automatically mean all 36 go free, however. Almost all of the inmates are facing charges in Marion County and will continue to be prosecuted for those charges as normal.

Baldridge confirmed only one inmate was released as a direct result of the change in policy. Silvestre Hernandez-Hernandez had already served a sentence on a possession of methamphetamine charge and was being held solely on a detainer; he has since been released.

The sheriff’s offices in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties all announced Wednesday that they would also suspend the placement of immigration detainers in their jails.

“The Sheriffs are committed to remaining in compliance with all state and federal laws and the Constitution of the United States,” they announced in a joint statement. “As the pertinent law evolves through court decisions and/or legislation the sheriffs will adjust their policies accordingly.”

Baldridge emphasized that Marion County would do the same.

“We are going to comply with what the courts request of us,” he said. Read more about Marion and Polk end jail holds on immigrants for ICE

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 convicted in Multnomah County on drug charges.

He also is subject to an immigration hold.

  Read more about Convicted felon deported to Mexico 2 years ago, arrested after shooting BB gun at car