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.