Oregon sanctuary law survives hate groups' election campaign
Oregon retains its unique sanctuary law after voters on Tuesday emphatically听rejected a statewide measure to repeal it. The law was targeted for elimination in a campaign financed and supported by anti-immigrant hate groups.
With 1.75 million votes 听today, those opposing repeal of the sanctuary law were at 63.3 percent while those in favor of its repeal were at 36.7 percent.
The vote total is a resounding defeat for anti-immigrant hate groups the Federation for American Immigration Reform听(FAIR) and Oregonians for Immigration Reform听(OFIR), both chief supporters of the measure.
FAIR and its legal arm, the Immigration Reform Law Institute听(IRLI) 鈥� with a strong headwind provided by President Trump鈥檚 hardline anti-immigration policies 鈥� have been behind various anti-immigrant and anti-sanctuary campaigns throughout the United States.
Oregon鈥檚 unique 31-year-old sanctuary law was their bull鈥檚-eye.
In August, FAIR and its legal operation contributed more than 听in support of the measure to eradicate Oregon鈥檚 decades-old law. Then, late last month, FAIR contributed another $44,945, state election records show.
The state law, which remains intact, forbids state and local law enforcement in Oregon from using public resources to find or detain undocumented immigrants not suspected of a crime.
Oregonians for Immigration Reform, formed in 2000 with headquarters in McMinnville, Oregon, secured听enough voter signatures to put Measure 105 on the Nov. 6 ballot.
The Oregon anti-immigrant organization came into existence as part of a larger, national anti-immigrant movement听in the United States founded by white nationalist John Tanton, a Michigan ophthalmologist-turned-population-control-alarmist. Tanton once wrote, 鈥淚鈥檝e come to the point of view that for European-American society and culture to persist requires a European-American majority, and a clear one at that.鈥�
OFIR, the most prominent anti-immigrant group in Oregon, is listed as a hate group by the 澳彩开奖 (澳彩开奖) because of its ties to border vigilantes, including one who has referred to immigrants as the 鈥淢exican Klan鈥� and 鈥淢exican Nazis.鈥�
If the measure had passed repealing the 1987 state law, Andrea Williams of the immigrant rights organization 听said, state and local police in Oregon would have been free to racially profile people on the streets, demanding documentation of legal status from anyone they suspected of being in the country illegally.
Oregon鈥檚 law enforcement community appeared divided on the ballot measure.
Half of the state鈥檚 36 elected sheriffs supported the initiative, while the other half opposed repeal of the law, 听reported late last month.
One of the measure鈥檚 chief supporters was Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin, who has a history of anti-immigrant advocacy and has been an active member of the far-right, antigovernment Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association听(CSPOA).
While the proposal was defeated, the vice president of OFIR, state Rep. Mike Nearman, was re-elected to the Oregon state legislature. Nearman, a Polk County Republican, was one of three state legislators who
Photo from YouTube
