Repeal of state sanctuary law makes ballot

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, July 18, 2018

A ballot measure to repeal Oregon’s sanctuary state status will go before voters in November, the Secretary of State’s office confirmed Tuesday.

Initiative Petition 22 garnered 97,762 valid signatures, safely above the 88,184 needed to qualify for the Nov. 6 election.

If passed, the ballot measure would undo a 1987 law that prohibits the use of state and local law enforcement resources to enforce federal immigration standard.

Groups in support of Initiative Petition 22, such as Oregonians for Immigration Reform and Stop Oregon Sanctuaries, helped gather and submit 111,039 signatures by the July 6 deadline. The Federation for American Immigration Reform, a national organization, also backed the campaign.

Both Oregonians for Immigration Reform and the Federation for American Immigration Reform are listed as anti-immigrant hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Opponents of the referendum include Andrea Williams, the executive director of the immigrant rights organization Causa Oregon. She’s helping lead Oregonians United Against Profiling, a group she said is working to raise awareness about the harms of repealing Oregon’s sanctuary state status.

If Initiative Petition 22 passes, Williams said, law enforcement would be free to racially profile people on the streets, demanding documentation of legal status from anyone they think might be in the country illegally.

In a Tuesday news release, Oregonians United Against Profiling said Nike, Columbia Sportswear and the Portland Timbers and Thorns soccer teams have also come out against Initiative Petition 22.

“This ballot measure will ask voters to throw out the state law that protects all Oregonians, including immigrant Oregonians, from unfair racial profiling,” Williams said in the release. “We’re confident that Oregon values of fairness and looking out for our neighbors will prevail, and voters will say no to eliminating the law in November.”

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