Copyright The Oregonian
Hundreds of people packed the Hillsboro City Council auditorium on Tuesday night to decry the escalation in immigration enforcement in the community, following weeks of reports of federal agents in unmarked vehicles detaining residents and dragging people out of cars in front of businesses and schools, in apartment complexes and parks. The council work session, which filled the city’s auditorium to maximum capacity, drew about 200 people in person and an additional 300 online. It included more than five hours of emotional testimony from residents, business owners and advocacy groups, many describing fear, economic hardship and trauma rippling through the Latino community. “ICE agents are terrorizing our community,” said Olga Acuña, president of the Washington County-based Latino Policy Council, citing reports of agents in plain clothes and unmarked cars making arrests without identifying themselves, refusing to show judicial warrants, using overly aggressive tactics and arresting U.S. citizens and other residents with legal status. Marchel Kaleikini, a local resident, put it even more succinctly. “Our neighbors are being kidnapped from their homes, on their way to picking up their children from child care, not because they broke the law or because they are criminals but because they look different,” Kaleikini said. “This is not immigration enforcement. This is racial terror. This is state-sanctioned violence. This is the face of fascism. Not in some far off land but in our backyard.” The mounting fear that has spread as a result of the aggressive enforcement is also keeping customers at home, no matter their legal status, and leading to plummeting sales at local businesses, said Fernando Lira, vice-chair of the Latino Business Advisory Council, which represents small Latino businesses in the Hillsboro area and is part of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce. The group urged the public to show solidarity by shopping at the impacted businesses and said it’s launching campaigns to encourage residents to shop locally and support Latino-owned businesses. A quarter of Hillsboro’s population identifies as Hispanic. “Our small business owners don’t just need relief funds or policy statements. They need trust, connection and visible solidarity,” said Lira. Residents at the meeting demanded stronger action from the city, including emergency declarations, legal observers, police documenting all ICE enforcement actions and responding to calls where ICE agents are acting aggressively. Residents also asked the city to post signs at city facilities and parks to discourage ICE presence. “I’m tired of hearing what the city can’t do,” said Rob Rogers, a Hillsboro resident. “We need to know what you can do… We have masked men kidnapping and assaulting our community members, my neighbors, and the police department is just standing by.” City officials acknowledge the fear but also the limits of their local authority. Hillsboro City Attorney Chad Jacobs stressed the city – especially its police department – cannot obstruct federal immigration enforcement nor prevent detentions. “Being a sanctuary jurisdiction doesn’t mean we can provide protection to people,” Jacobs said. “We cannot affirmatively interfere or stop [ICE] from doing their jobs because that would violate federal law.” But Hillsboro police and other city officials also cannot aid or cooperate with ICE because Hillsboro is a sanctuary city, Jacobs said. Hillsboro officials also pledged the city would make a total of $400,000 available to support the community, including $200,000 in previously planned community grants and an additional $200,000 in emergency funding specifically to support community members impacted by ICE activity. City officials say the funding would be distributed quickly to address impacted families’ urgent needs, including food, legal aid and mental health support. City officials also said they would continue the discussion about immigration enforcement during a follow up work session in two weeks, including focusing on what other options the city has to support the Latino community. Also on Tuesday, the Washington County Board of Commissioners declared a state of emergency concerning federal immigration enforcement, authorizing up to $200,000 from county reserves to support immigrants and refugees in the county. The motion was adopted unanimously. “Current federal immigration activity appears designed to instill fear and anxiety in the residents of Washington County,” said Commissioner Jason Snider. “And I would be remiss in my job if I did not point out that I believe that’s literally the definition of terrorism in the dictionary.” Commissioners gave the county administrator discretion on when and how to use the money by putting it in the hands of trusted community organizations. Some of the funds could also be directed toward ensuring the community receives legal assistance, Commissioner Nafisa Fai said. Fai also said the county should consider other forms of help, including rent assistance, suspending water or electricity shutoffs and issuing support for local businesses whose sales have dropped. Commissioners said the declaration does not direct local law enforcement to do things that would be illegal. Residents praised the declaration at the meeting. “Mothers are being attacked and hauled off TriMet in Washington County,” Kathy Walden, a county resident, told commissioners. “Fathers are being pulled out of McDonald’s and Home Depot in Washington County. ICE is showing up at children’s soccer games to apprehend people. It’s time to step up as residents, as a county, as decent human beings in a country that promised hope and possibility.”
