Appeal Tribune Wednesday, February 8, 2017 3B
Speaking up for immigrants, refugees
Protesters call for state
action at Capitol steps
NATALIE PATE
STATESMAN JOURNAL
Hundreds of people gathered on the
Capitol steps Feb. 1 urging the Oregon
State Legislature to take action to pro-
tect and defend immigrants and refu-
gees.
President Trump suspended the U.S.
refugee program for 120 days, banned all
immigrants from seven Muslim coun-
tries — Syria, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan,
Yemen, and Libya — for 90 days, and or-
dered his administration to develop “ex-
treme vetting” measures for immi-
grants from those countries to keep
“radical Islamic terrorists” out of the
United States.
“We want actions ... That’s why we are
here today,” said Francisco Lopez, politi-
cal director for Voz Hispana, the immi-
grant rights organization responsible for
organizing the rally.
It wants the legislature to agree to
spend up to $20 million to pay for law-
yers who would help people facing de-
portation; the state to sue to stop the
president’s executive order on refugees
and immigration; sue to stop the feds
from defunding sanctuary cities; expand
state laws prohibiting local law enforce-
ment from aiding deportation efforts;
prohibit state law enforcement data-
bases from being used in immigration in-
vestigations; and assure that victims of
racism and discrimination still have full
access to state services.
The rally coincided with the first day
of the Legislative session.
“What makes America great is its di-
versity,” said Jorge Rodriguez via Lopez
translating. “Brothers and sisters, we
are not criminals; we are hard working
people. We want all cities to be sanctuar-
ies.”
Protesters held signs Wednesday
with messages in support of those al-
ready in Oregon and against the Trump
administration’s actions, including “To-
gether, we rise,” “Oregon will not be-
come a cog in the Trump machine,”
“Love trumps fear, refugees are wel-
come here,” and “Super callous frail rac-
ist sexist nazi POTUS.”
ANNA REED/STATESMAN JOURNAL
Asli Ali, 39, of Woodburn, left, and Dana Bliss, 56, of Salem, attend an immigrant and refugee rights rally in response to President Trump’s ban on
people entering the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem on Feb. 1. Ali is an Arabic and
Somali interpretor for local school districts and both women work to help resettle refugees in the Willamette Valley.
The crowd listened to speakers from a
handful of groups for an hour in the near-
ly 40-degree weather before entering
the Capitol to deliver the list of demands
to representatives and senators.
At one point, protesters held hands
and cheered, “Sí, se puede,” Spanish for
“Yes, it is possible” or “Yes, we can.”
Speakers did not mention a specific
bill currently facing the legislature they
support.
Gregory McKelvery, 23, is a law stu-
dent and leader for the Portland Resis-
tance, an activist group.
He said some people were not ableto
attend the rally, but he encouraged those
who did to network and establish a com-
munity for future action.
He also spoke to the fear of many peo-
ple they will be deported, even if they are
here legally.
“This is not normal,” he said. “This is
not OK.”
According to the Oregon Department
of Human Services, more than 64,000
refugees have resettled in Oregon since
1975. Most of these refugees initially set-
tle in the greater Portland metro area.
Currently, the most common refugee
groups arriving in Oregon are from Cu-
ba, Burma, Bhutan, Iran, Iraq, and Soma-
lia.
As for immigrants, Oregon is home to
more than 391,000 immigrants, making
about 10 percent of all Oregonians “for-
eign-born.”
More than 11 million immigrants are
estimated to be living in the United
States illegally, according to the PEW
Research Center and Migration Policy
Institute.
By comparison, in 2014, around 47
percent, or 20 million, of all U.S. immi-
grants were naturalized U.S. citizens.
The remaining 53 percent, or 22.4 mil-
lion, included lawful permanent resi-
dents, unauthorized immigrants, and le-
gal residents on temporary visas, such as
students and temporary workers.
For more information, contact Voz
Hispana by calling 503-884-2679, email-
ing vozhispana.woregon@gmail.com.
Contact
Natalie
Pate
at
npate@StatesmanJournal.com, 503-399-
6745, or follow her on Twitter @Natalie
mpate and Facebook at www.Face
book.com/nataliepatejournalist
Hiring freeze: Seasonal firefighters, park rangers exempt
ZACH URNESS
STATESMAN JOURNAL
Thousands of seasonal jobs in the
Northwest could be safe after all, follow-
ing a clarification of President Donald
Trump’s 90-day hiring freeze of civilian
federal workers.
Park rangers and firefighters hired
each summer to serve the nation’s public
lands appear to be exempt from the
freeze, according to a memo issued Jan.
31 by the U.S. Office of Management and
Budget.
A list of exemptions to the hiring
freeze included “seasonal employees and
short-term temporary employees neces-
sary to meet traditionally recurring sea-
sonal workloads,” the statement said.
A second exemption said the head of
any agency can exempt any position
deemed necessary to “meet public safety
responsibilities, including essential ac-
tivities to the extent that they protect life
and property.”
Officials at the U.S. Forest Service
and interagency departments that hire
wildland firefighters couldn’t immedi-
ately comment on the clarification.
The two exemptions appear to apply to
the thousands of people hired each sum-
mer in the Northwest by agencies such as
the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Man-
agement and National Park Service.
Last week, Five Oregon lawmakers
wrote a letter to the White House ex-
pressing concern that enough seasonal
workers would be hired in time to fight
forest fires.
“Without staff in place to prepare for
the wildfire season, which is starting ear-
lier and earlier every year due to climate
change and years of severe drought con-
ditions across the country, our forests
and communities are put in harm's way,”
lawmakers said in a letter to the presi-
dent. “Seasonal hiring will be starting
soon and uncertainty about how to pro-
ceed could have serious impacts on pub-
lic safety.”
The Forest Service hired about 11,000
seasonal employees in 2015 — about 6,200
of whom were firefighting-related. De-
partment of Interior hires "thousands"
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more for firefighting-related jobs, but an
exact number wasn't immediately avail-
able, National Interagency Fire Center
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.
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.
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