NORCOR, last jail in Oregon to hold immigration detainees, to end ICE contract

Published 1:46 pm Saturday, August 22, 2020

The only jail in Oregon that holds federal immigration detainees has said it will end the practice.

The board that oversees the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility in The Dalles unanimously agreed Thursday to initiate steps toward ending its contract with U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement.

NORCOR is the last facility in the state to house ICE detainees. In the past, the regional jail has relied heavily on its federal contract to make ends meet. In some years, the contract had brought in more than $800,000 for the facility.

NORCOR, in turn, has provided additional detention space for ICE, which houses detainees there, sometimes for months. ICE also contracts with the Northwest Detention Center, a private immigration detention facility in Tacoma, Washington. ICE didn’t immediately comment on how the loss of NORCOR would impact its operations.

Oregon is a sanctuary state. A 1987 law prevents police and other local law enforcement from using local resources to detect or apprehend people whose only violation is being in the United States in breach of federal immigration laws.

Last year, a Wasco County judge ruled the jail did not violate Oregon’s sanctuary law, because ICE detainees “have been apprehended, arrested or seized by ICE prior to arriving at NORCOR.”

NORCOR has held both juvenile and adult detainees.

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