With the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States, concern has risen from undocumented groups who are uncertain of their future within the country. The Human Rights Commission in Eugene has made recent pushes to create an ordinance to make Eugene a sanctuary city that would help further protect certain groups.
If the city council adopts policies to make Eugene a sanctuary city, undocumented individuals would be protected from possible deportation.
The push to make Eugene a sanctuary city comes after a divisive election cycle that had President-elect Trump vowing to deport up to 3 million people who are undocumented from the US.
The Human Rights Commission recently helped pass a non-legally binding resolution by the city council of Eugene to make Eugene a sanctuary city, as a symbolic measure of support. The main-focus now is on creating an ordinance to officially make Eugene a sanctuary city.
Joel Iboa, a commissioner on the Human Rights Commission, discussed the urgency to pass this ordinance.
“It is important to send a message to residents in Eugene to say it is a safe place for immigrants and that it recognizes the contributions of immigrants to our community,” Iboa said. “We will not be complicit in helping federal authority to rip families apart.”
During the city council meeting on Nov. 28, the topic of defining Eugene as a sanctuary city was part of the discussion. City council member George Brown voiced his opinion as to why it is necessary to move toward making Eugene a sanctuary city.
“Yes, I think we need to take more action,” Councilor Brown said. “I think municipalities and states can pass laws that might be a little bit at odds with national policies. I think we need to pursue and be more specific about Eugene being a sanctuary city and not have parents taken away from their children.”
The official response from the Eugene Police Department, provided by Melinda McLaughlin, the public information director, was that EPD has no legal authority to actively seek out undocumented individuals under the Oregon Revised Statutes: 181.850 (1).
“Local police have no legal authority to enforce federal immigration laws,” McLaughlin’s statement said. “No law enforcement agency of the State of Oregon or of any political subdivision of the state shall use agency moneys, equipment or personnel for the purpose of detecting or apprehending persons whose only violation of law is that they are persons of foreign citizenship present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws.”
On Monday, Dec. 5, there will be a special human rights commission meeting to discuss plans to craft an ordinance to make Eugene a sanctuary city. The meeting is open to the public and will be held in the Atrium Building downtown at 5:30 PM.
“We usually don’t have meetings in December,” Iboa said, “but we made a special meeting time because of the gravity of the situation and the urgency in which it needs to be finished.”
Link to the event page can be found here.
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