Street Roots • July 6-12, 2018
News
Page 11
P H O T O S B Y D IE G O D IA Z
A t left, Oregon Rep. Diego Hernandez (D-EastPortland), along with other members o f Oregon Legislature, called for the abolition ofU.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement outside
Portland City Hall on June 24. A t right, U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) (center) and U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden (DOre.) (left) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) (right) a t the Sheridan Federal
Correctional Institution during a press conference on June 16. Blum enauer said the immigrant and asylum-seeking men he met inside the prison that day seemed “shell-shocked.”
ICE, from page 10
branch of government was created.
Blumenauer voted against the Homeland
Security Act, he said, because “it was being
rushed in the aftermath of 9/11, and I just
didn’t think it was focused, and I didn’t think
we knew what we were doing.”
He said his concerns have been justified
in the years since. “We’ve lurched ahead in
the name of ‘national security and terrorist
threats,’ doing lots of things that don’t have
much to do with terrorism.”
ICE has been at the receiving end of
criticism from immigrants’ rights groups for
the duration of fts 15-year existence, with
critics taking issue with the way the agency
treats immigrants as national security
threats while the private prison industry
profits off their incarceration. Now that the
Abolish ICE movement has gone
mainstream, Hernandez said it’s those
organizations that should be at the forefront,
directing the movement’s messaging and
focus. “I’m not sure if that’s the case right
now,” he said.
But to address immigration in a way that
factors in human rights, U.S. policies
extending beyond the abolition of ICE will
need to be reconsidered.
Blumenauer said he’s been pointing out
for years that the U.S. is partially to blame
for the mass migration to its borders from
Latin America in the first place.
He points to U.S. interference in El
Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras and the
failed War on Drugs.
“We have responsibility to try and
moderate it to try and make things better,
he said. “It’s one of the reasons we need to
reform our failed drug laws. We still have a
vast black market for marijuana in this
country that funds some of the cartel
violence. We haven’t been as aggressive as
we should have been in terms of the
economic development of that region. We
need to spend more on trying to strengthen
civil society rather than having punitive drug
policies.”
While the abolition of ICE may be a goal
for the future, Hernandez said there is
plenty of work to do now on the local level.
“We can scream at the top of our lungs
about what the federal government is doing,
and there is stuff here that we’re not looking
at in terms of immigrant rights in this
state,” he said.
Given Oregon’s overwhelming rejection of
Ballot Measure 88 four years ago, which
would have allowed undocumented
immigrants to obtain drivers’ cards, “we
know that this state is still not friendly or
pro-immigrants’ rights,” said Hernandez,
As ICE ramps up raids and arrests, not
having the ability to drive legally in Oregon
■poses an extra threat - not to mention
added fear - of detainment to
undocumented immigrants who live here.
He said when state and local agencies
entertain contracts with ICE, such as the
Northern Oregon Regional Corrections
facility (NORCOR) in The Dalles and up
until June 25, the Springfield jail, it sends a
message to immigrant communities that “in
Oregon, we do business with ICE.”
He said .three main areas of local focus
should be to get NORCOR to cancel their
Friday, July 20
The Zodiac Klki Ball (AH ages)
A portion of proceeds, from ticket
sales will benefit Pueblo Unido’s legal
Every evening
defense fund supporting Portland-
Vigil at Occupy ICE PDX
metro community members facing
Organizers have asked for additional
community support, as they continue • deportation.Visit Eventbrite.com for
tickets and more information.
their mission to camp outside the
8 p.m. to 1:30 a«m.
Southwest Portland fCE office until ....
Portland Art Museum
Portland is rid of ICE,
Fred & Suzanne Fields Ballroom
1219 SW Park Ave.
4310 SW Macadam Ave.
Portland, Ore.
Portland, Ore.
Show up:
Saturday, July 28
Every Sunday
Six Course Peruvian Popup
Vigil near Sheridan Federal
In celebration of Peruvian
Correctional Institution
Independence Day, a special six-
Where immigrant and asylum-seeking
men are being detained under U.S. - : course, plant-based dinner by Chef
Ant S. A portion of the proceeds
. Immigrations and Customs . . . . ,
■ going to. benefit Pueblo Unidd’s legal
Enforcement.. . . . . .
defense fund supporting Portland-
4 to 5:30 p.m.
metro community members, facing
South Side Park Fishing Pond
deportation. Visit eatfeastiy.com for
Sheridan, Ore.
more information and tickets ($60)
7 to 9 p.m.
Sunday, July 15
Desayuno, a Mexico City-inspired
Feastly
S il!
Q19 SF Hawthorne Blvd.
popup brunch1
.
Featuring food from Ben Morris,
cocktails from Justin Garcidiaz and ,
music from Cdast2C, AH proceeds
. benefit PuebloOnido’slegal.defense
*
. fund supporting Portiandmietro
community members facing
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refuaees9and asvlum seekers beinq
deportation.
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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S t Jack
1610 NW 23rd Ave.
Portland, Ore.
Give*
contract with ICE, give immigrants more
opportunities to succeed - through drivers
licenses and giving undocumented students
the ability to pay for higher education - and
defeating Initiative Petition 22, which seeks
to repeal Oregon’s sanctuary-state status on
the November ballot, should its proponents
gather enough signatures.
emi ly@streetroots. org
@greenwrites
To the defense of ICE-detained
immigrants who live in the Portfand-
metro area by donating to Pueblo
Unido at Venmo.com (search for
@PuebloUnido-PDX) or by mailing a
check to 17405 NE Glisan St.,
Portland, OR 97230.
Your time or donations to local
organizations that support Oregon’s
immigrant communities. Causa and
Latino Network have been advocating
for and providing services to Oregon’s
Latinx communities for years.
Visit causa.org and latnetorg
Divest:
■11
From financial institutions that support
the private prison industry that’s
profiting from the Trump
administration’s immigration policies.
Visit enlaceintl.org to learn more
about Enlace’s National Prison ■
download a campaign toolkit.
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The One Oregon Coalition. This is a
broad coalition of more than 100
Oregon organizations ail united
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