News Articles, Op-eds, and Letters

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that Senate Bill 4, the state’s so-called sanctuary cities ban, can remain the law of the land in Texas for now, stating that the cities that challenged the law will likely lose in their federal court suit.

Plaintiffs in the case include Austin and most of Texas’ other large cities, which sought to overturn the controversial law.  It requires cities and counties to enforce detention requests placed on local jail inmates suspected of illegal immigration.

The ruling does overturn one provision that prohibited local...

Oregon has always had its share of maverick politicians in public office, whether on the local scene or nationally, whether Democrat or Republican. While reading "Wheeler blasts Trump, boycotts White House talk" (Jan. 30), I found a statement in the article that drew my attention.

When it comes to the issue of sanctuary states or cities, the mayor was quoted as stating, "It demonstrates a lack of a moral compass in the leadership of the United States of America."

The same could be said for the mayor of this city, as well as some state governors who feel compelled to...

SALEM — While California’s sanctuary laws are bolder than Oregon’s, the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit against California announced Wednesday could portend legal action against other states.

In a speech to the California Peace Officers’ Association, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Justice Department is seeking to block provisions in three sanctuary laws passed in California. The complaint states that the state laws impermissibly attempt to override federal statute and target the federal government.

Laws in California prohibit private...

I was disheartened to read the off-balanced, ill-researched “Immigration sweeps” commentary of Feb. 16, which compared the brave men and women enforcing our immigration laws to Nazis. It substituted hyperbole and emotion for facts and reason.

The author branded ICE a “police force operating outside the usual bounds of due process.” That’s absolutely untrue.

Upon arrest, every alien is provided with Form I-826, Notice of Rights and Request for Disposition. It advises him how to request a hearing, claim asylum or consent to voluntary return.

The author mentioned...

Tom Henderson’s “Only Nazis get to be Nazis” commentary in the Feb. 16 News-Register was way out of line. There is no comparison to the United States, or to Oregon, in any manner.

I remember all too well the gold stars in the windows during the World War II years. I also remember well the reports of the U.S. forces storming the shores of distant places, and the price that was paid. And I remember the effort to supply human and material support, coming at great sacrifice.

Tom Henderson should not equate the United States and Nazism even in the slightest way.

The...

An overwhelming majority of Americans believe that cities that arrest illegal immigrants for crimes should be required to turn them over to federal authorities.

The poll shows that President Trump has broad public support in his effort to crack down on sanctuary cities.

A survey from Harvard–Harris Poll provided exclusively to The Hill found that 80 percent of voters say local authorities should have to comply with the law by reporting to federal agents the illegal immigrants they come into contact with.

As it stands, hundreds of cities across the nation —...

I read recently that the Department of Justice has included Oregon on the list of jurisdictions that the DOJ wants documentation regarding arrested illegal immigrants. A request by the way, that they have every right to demand. The fact that Oregon’s elected officials have allowed Oregon to be included in such a request is absolutely outrageous! And that Oregon, essentially, must now prove that it is not violating federal law is an embarrassment, or should be, to every man, woman and child in this state. What part of automatically enforcing federal law does Oregon’s elected officials not...

The Department of Justice today sent the attached letters to 23 jurisdictions, demanding the production of documents that could show whether each jurisdiction is unlawfully restricting information sharing by its law enforcement officers with federal immigration authorities.

All 23 of these jurisdictions were previously contacted by the Justice Department, when the Department raised concerns about laws, policies, or practices that may violate 8 U.S.C. 1373, a federal statute that promotes information sharing related to immigration enforcement and with which compliance is a...

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Homelessness is a problem across America. Recently, it was reported that 168,000 people were homeless on the West Coast. Nationally, homelessness according to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the 2016 census ranges from 58 homeless per 100,000 in Mississippi to 437 per 100,000 in New York, with an average being about 125 per 100,000.

Looking at a map provided by the Center for Immigration Studies of sanctuary localities in America and comparing it with the homeless census, it becomes clear that sanctuary policies increase homelessness....

On November 1, 2017 Oregon’s Marion County had 234 of the 978 foreign nationals (criminal aliens) incarcerated in the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) prison system; the county was first in foreign national crime in the state with 23.93 percent of the criminal aliens in DOC prisons.

The following table reveals how Marion County residents were harmed or victimized by the 234 criminal aliens incarcerated on November 1st in the DOC prison system with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration detainers.
 

OREGON DEPARTMENT OF...