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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2017)
2B Wednesday, February 1, 2017 Appeal Tribune Trump immigration orders force Oregon officials to revisit laws LAUREN E HERNANDEZ STATESMAN JOURNAL Local agencies are analyzing Presi- dent Donald Trump’s executive orders that halt federal funding to sanctuary cities and allows law enforcement to per- form the functions of immigration offi- cers. In one executive order , Trump states the federal government has failed in maintaining a federal and state partner- ship to enforce immigration laws. The order requires all executive de- partments and agencies to “employ all lawful means to enforce the immigration laws in the United States.” The new policy empowers state and local law enforcement agencies to per- form the functions of an immigration of- ficer “to the maximum extent permitted by law.” Jerry Moore, Chief of Police for the city of Salem, said the order doesn’t change the way Salem Police Depart- ment will operate. “There is a state law that says we don’t enforce immigration laws and that’s how we’ve done business for as long as we can remember,” Moore said. “This executive order doesn’t really change that, so un- less someone tells me that it has prece- dence over state law - it’s business as usual for us.” Moore refers to Oregon Revised Stat- ute 181.850, which discusses enforce- ment of federal immigration laws. The statute states law enforcement agencies may not use agency money, equipment or personnel to detect or ap- prehend people who are only violating federal immigration laws by being for- eign citizens in the United States. Gretchen Bennett, human rights and relations federal compliance coordina- tor at the city of Salem, said city law en- forcement follows the state practice in order to ensure people are not afraid to reach out to law enforcement for emer- gency help. Bennett, who said she was speaking on behalf for Salem Mayor Chuck Ben- nett , said the city is analyzing Trump’s executive orders to understand what, if any, potential policy changes are born from the actions. WILLAMETTE HERITAGE CENTER The 1870s clock was atop the old Salem City Hall for nearly 20 years. “We’re in the midst of analyzing it and we’ve been talking with communities and learning about questions and con- cerns about fears that folks have about this,” Bennett said. Polk County Sheriff Mark Garton said Oregon law enforcement officers do fol- low protocol in the event they arrest an undocumented immigrant for a crime. Upon an arrest, officers take finger- prints and send the prints through the National Crime Information Center, or NCIC, a division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The center compares the prints with any other people who have been arrested in the national system. If the prints return with information stating the person is an undocumented immigrant and is a criminal in other country, officers are required to contact the U.S. Immigration and Customs En- forcement, commonly known as ICE. Garton said arresting deputies con- Young Hoop Shoot victors net recognition CHRISTENA BROOKS SPECIAL TO THE APPEAL TRIBUNE Eighteen boys and girls from Silver- ton, Santiam and Mt. Angel school dis- tricts won trophies for their free-throw accuracy at the Silverton Elks Lodge #2210 annual Hoop Shoot competition last month. Fifty-three contestants from 14 schools took turns making 25 free throws on Jan. 7 at Robert Frost School in Silverton. In keeping with national rules, kids ages 10-13 shot from the free throw line, while 8- and 9-year-olds stood four feet closer to the hoop. The top finisher was last year’s win- ner, Jacob Axmaker of Sublimity, who sank 23 of 25 shots. He competed in the 12- and 13-year-old boys’ division. Sec- ond place was Riley Cantu of Mt. Angel, with 22, while third place was Isaac Se- merikov of Scotts Mills, with 21. In the 12- and 13-year-old girls’ divi- sion, first place was Hailey Arritola of Mt Angel, with 17; second place was Abi- gail Thompson of Butte Creek, with 14, and third place was Stella Harrison of Silverton, with 9. For 10- and 11-year-old boys, first place was William Schaecher of Mt An- gel, with 19; second place was Housten Kuenzi of Pratum, with 18; and third place was Konnor Rablin of Butte Creek, with 15. For 10- and 11-year-old girls, first place was Kaylyssa Efimov of Butte Creek with 16; second place was Lily Hayashida of Scotts Mills, with 15; and third place was Abigail Roth of Pratum, with 14. For 8- and 9-year-old boys, first place was Carter Vittone-Ortiz of Stayton, with 14; second place was Mason Linde- mann of Santiam, with 13; and third place was Kody Graves of St Mary’s in Mt. Angel, with 12. nect with ICE agents and ask if they would like a hold on the suspect. If ICE requests a hold, a law enforcement agen- cy holds the suspect until they can be re- leased to federal agents. If ICE is not interested in holding the suspect, Garton said the law enforce- ment agency still lodges them on local charges. “So does this order really affect what we do on a daily basis? I don’t think so.” Garton said. “We do our jobs and follow the laws as they are in place.” Trump’s order also calls for a cease of funding to sanctuary cities that refuse to comply with federal law. “These jurisdictions have caused im- measurable harm to the American peo- ple and to the very fabric of our Repub- lic,” Trump’s order reads. “Tens of thou- sands of removable aliens have been re- leased into communities across the country, solely because their home coun- tries refuse to accept their repatriation.” Trump also plans on terminating the Priority Enforcement Program, or PEP, in order to reinstitute the “Secure Com- munities Program.” The program was administered by ICE from 2008 to 2014 and resulted in the deportation of more than 166,000 undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes. The order includes a call to build a wall on the United States and Mexico border and the federal government to hire an additional 5,000 Border Patrol of- ficers and 10,000 more ICE agents, asy- lum officers and immigration judges. “Continued illegal immigration pre- sents a clear and present danger to the interests of the United States,” Trump said. While Marion and Polk counties have not formally established themselves as sanctuary cities, officials from both counties will continue following Oregon law and closely assess Trump’s orders and subsequent actions. Jolene Kelley, public information of- ficer for the Marion County Board of Commissioner’s Office, said there is no formal definition of “sanctuary city,” and the county has not made any formal action to determine that status. “I think that everybody is watching the federal government to see what hap- Oregon officials increase ACA ads despite Trump’s cuts WHITNEY M. WOODWORTH STATESMAN JOURNAL COURTESY OF SILVERTON ELKS CLUB A winner of the Elks Hoop Shoot representing Silverton Lodge 2210 was Jacob Axmaker. For 8- and 9-year-old girls, first place was Susie Efimov of Butte Creek, with 18; second place was Maizy Downey of Mari-Linn, with 14; and third place was Amarah Reyna of Stayton, with 9. The winners of last month’s competi- tion now have the opportunity to move on to state Feb. 11 and regionals March 11. Tom Pembroke, coordinator for Sil- verton’s Hoop Shoot, said the top finish- ers “went home with a first-, second- or third-place trophy, a belief in hard work, and a smile on their face.” pens and see how it may, or could, affect programs,” Kelley said. Regions that have adopted that sanc- tuary moniker and refuse to comply with federal law face a cut in federal funding. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler re- leased a statement in response to Trump’s executive order and stood by his city’s status as being a sanctuary city. “We will not be complicit in the depor- tation of our neighbor,” Wheeler said. “We are a city built on immigration.” Cities for Action , a collaborative of mayors throughout the United States who aim to create an inclusive environ- ment for immigrants, released a joint statement in response to Trump’s order as well. “Today’s executive orders do not change who we are or how we govern our cities, and we will fight against attempts to undermine our values and the security of our cities,” the statement reads. Mat dos Santos, legal director of the ACLU of Oregon , said the civil liberties organization called Trump’s order “dan- gerous.” “Locking up asylum seekers that pose no danger or flight risk is unconstitution- al and really benefits nobody,” dos San- tos said. Trump’s order states the secretary of Homeland Security will publish a com- prehensive list of “criminal actions” by undocumented immigrants and any ju- risdiction that fails to detain undocu- mented immigrants in a weekly “De- clined Detainer Outcome Report.” “I think Trump hopes that local offi- cials will buckle under the threats of stripping of federal funding, but (sanctu- ary cities) been working with local or- ganizations to protect immigrant com- munities,” dos Santos said. As local and state government agen- cies across the nation delve into the ex- ecutive orders to determine potential outcomes for their respective agencies, dos Santos said he knows one thing for sure. “We’ll see Trump in court,” dos Santos said. Governor Kate Brown and Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum were unavail- able for comment at the time of publica- tion. In light of the Trump administra- tion’s decision to halt federal spending on advertising and outreach for health care, Oregon officials are spending an additional $100,000 in advertising to en- courage residents to sign up for health care coverage the final days of open en- rollment. The Oregon Department of Consum- er and Business Services announced Friday that it will invest the money by expanding its online marketing to reach people statewide. Ads on sites like You- tube, Facebook, Hulu and Pandora will increase during the state’s final push to reach Oregonians before the Jan. 31 deadline. “It’s not clear today what outreach HealthCare.gov is doing,” DCBS direc- tor Patrick Allen said in a statement. “This is no time to make it harder for Or- egonians to get the information they need on how to get coverage for them- selves and their families for 2017.” The announcement came less than a day after Politico reported the new ad- ministration was pulling the plug on advertising in the “crucial final days of the 2017 enrollment period.” This in- cluded pulling ads that have already been paid for. A Health and Human Services spokesman told Politico the decision to pull advertising was a cost-saving mea- sure. Elizabeth Cronen, spokeswoman for the Oregon Health Insurance Market- place, said her organization met the morning after the announcement and decided they wanted to work to get the word out to Oregonians despite the pull- back by the federal government. They increased their number of online ads and broadened their target areas throughout the state. There’s a great deal of uncertainty about what the federal government is doing with the Affordable Care Act, she said, but one thing is certain: If Orego- nians don’t enroll by the deadline they won’t have 2017 coverage. With more than 150,000 Oregonians having selected a plan through Health- Care.gov, this year’s enrollment total outpaced every previous period’s tal- lies. The additional 115,000 people in the state who may be eligible for financial assistance will have to sign up by Jan. 31. After the deadline, people will only be able to get coverage for special cir- cumstances, like losing job-related cov- erage and getting married. In addition to increased marketing, the Oregon Health Insurance Market- place and its partners are holding open free enrollment events throughout the state, including an event in Salem on Saturday, Jan. 28 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at PH Tech headquarters on 3993 Fairview Industrial Dr. SE. Further information is available at http://www.oregonhealthcare.gov/get- help.html. Consumers also can call the Oregon Health Insurance Marketplace at 1-855-268-3767 for free assistance. Those wanting to shop for plans can vis- it HealthCare.gov or call 1-800-318-2596. For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodwort@statesmanjournal. com, call 503-399-6884 or follow on Twit- ter @wmwoodworth Seasonal jobs in question after hiring freeze ZACH URNESS STATESMAN JOURNAL Thousands of jobs in the Northwest are in flux this week following President Donald Trump’s hiring freeze of civilian employees in the federal government. Seasonal firefighters and park rang- ers hired each summer won’t have a clear answer on the status of their jobs until the executive order is clarified, of- ficials said. The order, issued Jan. 23, said “no va- cant positions existing at noon on Janu- ary 22, 2017, may be filled and no new po- sitions may be created, except in limited circumstances.” The statement came as agencies in- cluding the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service and Bureau of Land Man- agement prepare to hire a small army of seasonal employees for an array of jobs on public lands. The Forest Service hired about 11,000 seasonal employees in 2015 — about 6,200 of which were firefighting-related, the Missoulian reported. Department of Interior hires “thousands” more for fire- fighting-related jobs, but an exact num- ber wasn’t immediately available, Na- tional Interagency Fire Center spokes- woman Jessica Gardetto said. In the Pacific Northwest, the Forest Service and National Park Service previ- ously announced plans to hire 1,250 peo- ple this summer for recreation, visitor services, and engineering. All of those jobs are up in the air fol- lowing the announcement. “The administration hasn’t provided details about how this hiring freeze will work on the ground in Oregon,” Oregon Senator Ron Wyden said in a statement. “I’m concerned that even a 90-day hiring freeze could interfere with preparing for fire season and hiring wildland fire- fighters before fire season hits.” Gardetto said the order’s exemption of jobs “necessary to meet national secu- rity or public safety” could apply to fire- fighting. “We typically start seasonal wildland fire hiring in the winter months, so at this point, we are not sure how this will affect us,” Gardetto said. “We are await- ing further guidance on this issue.” As for jobs that don’t meet the nation- al security or public safety exemption — a seasonal ranger at Crater Lake Nation- al Park, for example — the future is un- clear. The freeze comes at a time when na- tional parks and federal lands in Oregon and nationwide have seen a steep in- crease in crowds without any increase in staffing at federal agencies. “(National parks) cannot continue to be hampered by low staffing, and that’s exactly what will happen with this hiring freeze,” said Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of National Parks Conservation Association, in a press release. “Park rangers are already forced to do more with less because they don’t have enough staff to handle record-breaking crowds.” Babete Anderson, National Press Of- ficer for the Forest Service, said only that the agency was “waiting for further clarification and direction.” Questions to the National Park Service were not im- mediately returned. This story will be updated as more in- formation becomes available. Zach Urness has been an outdoors writer, photographer and videographer in Oregon for eight years. He is the author of the book “Hiking Southern Oregon” and can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.
