7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017
ICE: ‘Everybody’s getting sued by all these left-wing liberal groups’
Continued from Page 1A
likely means of affecting their
capture.”
Clatsop County Sher-
iff Tom Bergin said, “I can’t
believe they put out a state-
ment like that.”
ICE removals of illegal aliens
369,221
409,849
389,834 392,862 396,906
368,644
240,255: Up 2%
from FY2015,
Down 24%
from FY2014
315,943
235,413
Tension on immigration
The knock from Immigra-
tion and Customs Enforce-
ment illustrates the tension
between local law enforce-
ment agencies and the federal
government over immigra-
tion law. Legal challenges and
complaints from human-rights
advocates led President Barack
Obama to narrow requests for
ICE detainers at local jails,
but President Donald Trump
has taken a hard-line pol-
icy toward deporting undocu-
mented immigrants and wants
more cooperation from local
law enforcement.
Bergin would like the S her-
iff’s O ffi ce, which oversees the
county jail, to work with Immi-
gration and Customs Enforce-
ment . But Oregon counties
stepped back from ICE detain-
ers after a federal court ruling
in 2014.
Fourth Amendment
The U.S. District Court in
Portland found that Clacka-
mas County had violated the
Fourth Amendment rights of a
woman kept in custody at the
county jail in 2012 on an ICE
detainer to determine whether
she should be subject to depor-
tation. The woman had been
arrested for violating a domes-
tic violence restraining order,
had pleaded guilty, was sen-
tenced, and was eligible for
NOTE: Includes returns where aliens were
turned over to ICE for removal efforts.
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
FY2008
FY ’10
FY ’12
Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
release, but she stayed in jail
because of the ICE detainer
until she was released to depor-
tation agents.
The Fourth Amendment
protects against unreason-
able searches and seizures —
including detention — without
probable cause.
Clackamas County had
argued that it was follow-
ing a federal directive that
was mandatory, but the fed-
eral court ruled, and Immigra-
tion and Customs Enforcement
has acknowledged, that ICE
detainers are not mandatory on
local law enforcement.
After the federal court rul-
ing, several county sheriffs
announced they would not
honor requests for ICE holds
without a warrant or a court
order.
“Clatsop is not unique,”
Virginia Kice, an Immigra-
tion and Customs Enforcement
spokeswoman , said. “All of the
counties in Oregon don’t honor
ICE detainers. It’s just one of
the reasons we are utilizing
leads to go to the courthouse to
FY ’14
FY2016
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
make arrests. We have to invest
time and resources.”
Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin speaks during a press
conference at the Boyington building last year.
detainee,” she said.
Courthouse arrest
‘Kicking in the door’
Bergin said that if Immigra-
tion and Customs Enforcement
shows up with “a warrant in
their hands, we will be the fi rst
ones kicking in the door. ”
But, without it, Clatsop
County could get embroiled in
a lawsuit. “Everybody’s get-
ting sued by all these left-wing
liberal groups,” he said.
“I would rather see every
criminal illegal alien removed
from our county, but at this
time I have to protect my
guys,” he said.
“Now if we have a really,
really bad guy, my offi ce is
going to do everything it can to
make sure that that person goes
into custody, stays in custody,”
Bergin said.
Kice said Immigration and
Customs Enforcement would
prefer to make arrests at a
secure environment, such as a
jail, rather than outside court-
houses. “It would be safer for
the bystanders, offi cers and the
The man arrested Tues-
day had been deported before ,
ICE’s statement said. The
agency’s deportation offi cers
“sought to arrest the man out-
side the courthouse after ear-
lier efforts to locate him proved
unsuccessful.”
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement personnel deter-
mine where and how to make
arrests “on a case-by-case
basis, taking into account all
aspects of the situation, includ-
ing the prospective target’s
criminal history; safety consid-
erations; and any sensitivities
involving the arrest location,”
the agency wrote.
ICE often does not know
where suspects live, and many
are not regularly employed,
Kice said.
“We’re dealing with indi-
viduals who have a long crim-
inal history and who are savvy
at avoiding law enforcement,”
she said.
Without providing specifi c
details, ICE agents informed
the Astoria Police Department
of an upcoming arrest in the
city.
“ICE does call us occa-
sionally to tell us they are
going to do something some-
where,” Deputy Chief Eric
Halverson said. “Typically,
plainclothes agents call us to
let us know they’ll be in our
neighborhood.”
Sanctuary state
An Oregon law approved in
1987 prohibits state and local
law enforcement from using
public money to pursue and
arrest people whose only vio-
lation is that they are in the
United States illegally. The law
does not prevent law enforce-
ment from exchanging infor-
mation with the federal gov-
ernment on the immigration
status of people arrested for
crimes, or from making arrests
on warrants or court orders for
criminal violations of federal
immigration law.
In response to President
Trump’s immigration crack-
down and threats to withhold
federal money from so-called
sanctuary cities and states,
Gov. Kate Brown in Febru-
ary issued an executive order
expanding the law to apply to
all state agencies.
Clatsop County Board
of Commissioners Chair-
man Scott Lee said he sup-
ports Brown’s executive order,
one of several declarations by
Democratic governors and
mayors against the Republican
president .
Sheriff Bergin does not sup-
port the sanctuary concept .
“I would be the fi rst one to
eliminate the sanctuary city,
or the sanctuary county, or the
sanctuary state, if it was within
my power, because I believe
it’s wrong,” the sheriff said. “I
believe it is an injustice, and
I believe that we are protect-
ing individuals that aren’t even
legally here a lot of the time.
And it’s just ridiculous. It’s
ludicrous.”
The Astoria City Council
chose not to designate Asto-
ria a sanctuary city, a decision
that Lower Columbia Hispanic
Council Executive Director
Jorge Gutierrez endorsed.
The City C ouncil on Mon-
day instead adopted a reso-
lution, introduced by Guti-
errez, reaffi rming the city’s
inclusive stance toward immi-
grants. However, City C oun-
cilors Cindy Price and Tom
Brownson acknowledged that
the resolution does not prevent
ICE agents from detaining and
deporting local undocumented
immigrants. Price advised
undocumented immigrants to
become documented and to
stay out of the justice system.
Charter school: Proposal could be coming to school board in June
Continued from Page 1A
schools in the next four years,
along with vouchers,” Hop-
pes said, adding a charter des-
ignation could help provide a
shot of adrenaline for the Gray
School program.
More charters
President Donald Trump
has said he plans to funnel bil-
lions in funding into school
choice programs, including
charter schools. New Educa-
tion Secretary Betsy DeVos
has been a strong proponent of
charter schools.
The school board in 2012
rejected a bid by Donna and
Thomas Freeland from Ari-
zona to open Oceanview Char-
ter School. Hoppes, who pro-
vided a recommendation
against the charter school , said
the district would have had to
cut three or four teachers had
Oceanview opened.
“We felt as a district that
we provide a lot more, a
better education, than they
could,” Hoppes said. “We
think there are going to be
more out there now, because
there’s more money coming
our way. So I want to insu-
late us a little bit (from) those
people who want to come in
and open a charter school, for
whatever reason.”
A charter school would
have its own governing
board. Hoppes said some peo-
ple have already shown inter-
est in overseeing the school,
but that he could not say who
yet. The charter school would
still fall under the district, and
its employees under the same
unions as at other schools.
The district’s school board
would approve a three-year
charter for the school.
Gray S chool
Students from throughout
Clatsop County can apply to
become a part of Gray School,
after which they become stu-
dents of Astoria High School.
The education at Gray School,
focused on credit recovery, is
largely self-paced. Students
earn credits mostly online and
study on various schedules.
The district provides
preschool slots in the Lil’
Sprouts Academy for students
with children. The program is
supported by a teacher, a part-
time counselor, an instruc-
tional assistant and a math
tutor.
While not much would
change in the school’s opera-
tion of Gray School, Hoppes
said, the charter designation
can help capture additional
funding.
The state was awarded
$8.7 million for charter
school planning, implementa-
tion and dissemination grants
in October 2015. People and
districts organizing charter
schools can receive $100,000
for planning from the Ore-
gon Charter School Program,
such as Cannon Beach Acad-
emy recently did. Hoppes
said a second grant provides
up to $450,000 to help start
the school, purchase curric-
ulum, train teachers and buy
other equipment.
Hoppes said he would like
to get a charter school appli-
cation ready this year .
Catching more kids
Astoria High School Prin-
cipal Lynn Jackson said a
charter school designation
can help Gray School enrich
its offerings and take in more
at-risk students.
Over the last four years,
Gray School has had 109 stu-
dents enter the program, with
29 graduating and three more
completing high school in
some other way. Jackson said
programs like Gray School
that serve mobile, at-risk stu-
dents usually face a 50 to 60
percent turnover rate.
“This is not good enough,
certainly,” Jackson said of the
29 graduates out of 109 stu-
dents. “But at the same time,
had Gray School c ampus
not existed, these would be
dropouts.”
Jackson said the district
has a moral obligation to help
students wanting to fi nish
high school, but not always
the incentive, because at-risk
kids are tougher to complete
and can negatively affect the
district’s graduation rate.
Jackson said the charter
school could focus more on
the overall number of grad-
uates and completers, rather
than just the rate. “That gives
us the incentive of going
out and fi nding kids that are
at-risk.”
Hoppes said the teacher
licensing requirements of
a charter school program
would also be more fl exible,
allowing the district to bring
in, say, a county educator to
teach a parenting class, or
a Clatsop Community Col-
lege instructor to teach some-
thing like Lives In Transi-
tion. He said Gray School is
also probably missing a lot of
kids in Warrenton and Sea-
side because they lack trans-
portation, something char-
ter school funding could help
with.
Oregon Promise, the state
program subsidizing college
tuition for incoming fresh-
men , requires a 2.5 GPA.
Jackson said most students at
Gray School don’t have such
a GPA, but could participate
in Oregon Promise if they
pass a GED exam.
Messaging
School board member
David Oser said there has
been a negative connotation
about charter schools, and that
the school district needs to be
clear that the proposal will
not harm public education.
Jackson said much of that
negative connotation comes
from private charter schools
siphoning off money from
public school districts. He
said the district can keep the
charter school part of the
public district, “b ut give us
the means by which we can
increase our public school
offering and our public
school enrollment for that
particular subgroup of at-risk
students.”
Hoppes said the school
district will likely bring a pro-
posal to the school board in
June.
Restaurant: The company’s last coastal expansion was in 1991
Continued from Page 1A
Hardware — making way for
more parking and landscap-
ing. Inside, workers are busy
installing utilities in the mostly
framed interior. Wooden win-
dow frames surround a kitchen
area that will provide visitors
a view of the large chowder
kettles and the entire cooking
process.
The company’s chow-
der factory in Newport pro-
duces more than 500,000
pounds a year, supplying
grocery stores and the restau-
rant’s seven other locations
along the Oregon Coast and
at Portland International Air-
port. The company’s last
coastal expansion was 1991
in Cannon Beach. Scull
said the company has been
looking for several years at
Astoria.
“We’re a family -owned
business, so it’s more about
the right opportunity … than
about opening up locations,”
he said.
With the Columbia River
location, he said, Mo’s saw an
opportunity to open a restau-
rant on the scale of its other
locations, while expand-
ing its chowder-producing
capacity to meet a grow-
ing demand. Scull said Mo’s
will likely employ 60 to
80 people year-round in
Astoria.
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