NEWS
B Y H E N RY H O U S TO N
ICE AGREEMENT WITH SPRINGFIELD MELTS AWAY
City Council cancels contract to house detainees in municipal jail
heering and clapping exploded inside Springfield’s
City Hall the evening of Monday, June 25. It was
applause because, after more than 90 minutes of
emotional discussion from the public, Springfield
City Council voted unanimously to end a contract
with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to house
federal immigration detainees at the city’s jail.
The council’s decision ended an agreement the city has
had with ICE since 2012. And the decision may bring some
small reassurance to immigrant community members who
have been facing increased scrutiny of their status under
the Trump Administration.
Mayor Christine Lundberg had earlier said the council
would consider allowing Springfield Municipal Jail to only
temporarily hold detainees with current criminal charges
or criminal history.
On Tuesday, June 26, ICE was notified that the Spring-
field Municipal Jail would no longer provide temporary
confinement of detainees, according to Niel Laudati, the
city’s legislative and public affairs manager.
ICE spokeswoman Carissa Cutrell says the agency
doesn't have a facility in Oregon that would replace the
Springfield Jail, which served as a waypoint when transfer-
ring detainees to a detention center in Tacoma, Washington.
ICE, she said, must now dedicate more resources for trans-
portation, “which steers resources away from apprehending
at-large criminal aliens, negatively impacting public safety.”
The decision came as a surprise for Johanis Tadeo, an
organizer with Springfield Alliance for Equality and Re-
spect, a program by Community Alliance of Lane County.
He thought the City Council’s vote would be split, which
would force Lundberg to break a tie. But, he adds, when
he heard each councilor unravel their support to end the
C
LANE COUNTY AREA
SPRAY INFORMATION
• Seneca Jones Timber Company, 541-689-
1011, plans to hire Oregon Forest Manage-
ment Services Inc., 541-520-5941, to spray
88.0 acres near Crow Road with imazapyr and
Spray Indicator. See ODF notification 2018-
781-08130, call Brian Peterson at 541-935-
2283 with questions.
contract with ICE, he was in tears.
“If we can find an arrangement that the community
can feel safe by calling [the police] and having them come
for what we’re calling them for, then we can have a step
forward,” Tadeo says. “Hopefully they keep their word in
wanting to reach out to us.”
Councilor Sean VanGordon initially supported the con-
tract with ICE. He says he thought last week that the City
Council would go through with the decision and let things
calm down. However, he says, he realized that issues re-
lated to immigration wouldn’t calm down. This past week-
end he began to change his mind about the ICE agreement
because he wants to make sure all people of the Springfield
community feel comfortable calling the police.
Councilor Joe Pishioneri, a former Lane County sheriff’s
deputy with a degree in criminal justice, voted to end the
agreement but added a statement of dissent. He says his duty
is to protect the Springfield community and that he would
support an agreement with ICE only if it targeted those ar-
rested or convicted of a felony crime or Class A misdemeanor.
The crowd heckled him after his statement, prompting
Lundberg to issue a warning to the audience.
Many Springfield residents at the June 25 City Council
meeting expressed their fear of living in Springfield with
ICE’s presence.
“You cannot trust an entity whose sole mission is to de-
port and detain and mutilate and do so much damage to
families and communities in a really targeted way,” Mari-
ana (whose last name is withheld due to her immigration
status) said during the public comment period. “If you look
at the faces of who’s in those cells, they don’t look like
you. They look like me. I’m still undocumented. I still live
in fear. I don’t feel safe being in Springfield.”
• FIA Timber Partners, LP and New Growth,
c/o FIA, c/o Mason Bruce & Girard, 541-973-
1951, plans to hire Western Helicopter Servic-
es Inc., 503-539-9469, to aerially spray 633.9
acres in many areas including locations near
Sweet Creek, North Fork Smith River, Fiddle
and Indian Creeks and the Siuslaw River with
glyphosate, imazapyr, metsulfuron methyl,
sulfometuron methyl, aminopyralid and/or
MSO Concentrate. See ODF notifications 2018-
She isn’t the only person in the city who had fears from
the agreement with ICE. Before the Monday meeting, Tad-
eo invited EW and Councilor Leonard Stoehr on a tour of
Springfield to talk with Latino community members.
One undocumented immigrant, who also withheld his
name for his safety, says nobody feels calm about having
ICE in Springfield. There’s a fear that they can grab you
when you’re going to work, he says. He adds that last year
he and his family were so fearful about leaving their house
that they couldn’t go to the grocery store for 10 days.
Local Latino businesses, including Erica’s Meat Mar-
ket, say that their clientele has decreased over the past year.
Springfield Police Chief Rick Lewis tells EW the de-
partment has hired a Spanish-speaking outreach coordina-
tor, Chris Solares, who will work with the city’s residents,
including Latino community members, to ensure they can
have a positive relationship with the police department.
Lewis adds that whenever he’s out in the community
he tells people that ICE isn’t involved at all when police
respond to calls.
Springfield City Council considered making a signifi-
cant change that would limit holding undocumented im-
migrants for crimes such as aggravated federal felonies,
federal felonies, state felonies and specific misdemeanors
such as DUIIs, stalking and third-degree misdemeanors
like domestic violence.
According to documents obtained by EW, Springfield
Municipal Jail has charged ICE $80 per bed. The city’s jail
had billed ICE for using 117 beds for detainees at a total of
$8,720 for 2017.
Although Springfield will end the contract, Lewis confirmed
that the police department would still have to distribute names
of detained inmates to all federal agencies, including ICE.
781-08361 and 2018-781-08364, call Quincy
Coons at 541-997-8713 with questions.
• East Beers Cremo, 541-268-4422, plans
to spray 245.3 acres near Indian Creek with
Garlon 4 Ultra and Forest Crop Oil. See ODF no-
tification 2018-781-08374, call Quincy Coons
at 541-997-8713 with questions.
• Oregon Trail Council, 541-284-4390, plans
to spray 60.7 acres near Jordan Creek with
glyphosate, Rotary 2 SL, Opensight, Oust
Extra and/or Syl-Tac. See ODF notification
2018-781-08650, call Brian Peterson at 541-
935-2283 with questions.
Compiled by Gary Hale, Beyond Toxics,
beyondtoxics.org.
Announcing the First Annual
An all ages benefit for:
A Family for Every Child
“Adopting a child won’t change the world:
but for that child, the world will change.”
OVER 21 - July 28
UNDER 21 - July 29
Join us for a full throttle Rally of plastic
& power slides, while cruising on our Big
Wheels! Includes a ticket for Raffle prizes!
A Eugene Sunday Streets Event
Join us for Big Wheel races after
the EUG Parade!
Includes a ticket for Raffle prizes!
5:00 pm on Saturday, July 28
Starts at the Downtown Athletic Club, then we
cruise downtown Eugene!
BYOBW No Big Wheel? No Problem!
Join us as Pit Crew!
12:00 Noon on Sunday, July 29
Downtown Eugene, Lincoln & Broadway
No Big Wheel? No problem,
we will have a couple of Big Wheels available.
Register at
www.eugbwr.com
Sponsored by:
Rally Pit Stops: Downtown Athletic Club, Starlight Lounge, Whirled Pies,
The Drake, First National Taphouse, CowFish, Sizzle Pie
HEAR YE,
HEAR YE !!
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89 th SEASON!
The Very Little Theatre
presents in STAGE LEFT:
A new folk-rock musical
based on Shakespeare's
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Written & Directed by
Scott Frazier-Maskiell
July 6-8, 12-15
7:30 pm curtain time;
2 pm Sunday matinees
Tix: $12 General Admission
Box office open 2:00-6:00 pm
Wed.-Sat., 2350 Hilyard St.
Tix on-line at TheVLT.com
541-344-7751
eugeneweekly.com • June 28, 2018
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