3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2017
Legislation could prevent some deportations of legal immigrants
Attempt to
avoid federal
enforcement
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — State lawmak-
ers are considering a change
to sentencing law that could
help prevent the mandatory
federal deportation of legal
immigrants convicted of gross
misdemeanors.
The proposal is in an
amendment to Attorney Gen-
eral Ellen Rosenblum’s bill to
discourage racial profiling.
The change would reduce
the maximum sentence for a
Class A misdemeanor from
365 days to 364 days. A 365-
day sentence is one of several
triggers for mandatory fed-
eral deportation of green card
holders, refugees and other
legal noncitizens. Other trig-
gers are violent crimes and
felonies, said Stephen Man-
ning, a Portland immigration
attorney.
The change would have no
effect on illegal immigrants.
“This is an equity issue,”
said state House Speaker Tina
Kotek, D-Portland. “Peo-
ple should not be torn from
their families and their com-
munities because of an arbi-
trary difference between
state and federal sentencing
law for low-level, nonviolent
misdemeanors.”
If adopted, the law would
make Oregon uniform with
Washington state and Cali-
fornia, which already made
the change in the last several
years.
It would serve to
strengthen the three states’
governors’ efforts to create “a
zone of inclusivity” along the
West Coast, Manning said.
Gov. Kate Brown has been
defiant in the face of President
Donald Trump’s executive
orders limiting immigration
and banning refugees, which
also have been halted by the
courts.
In February, Brown issued
her own executive order bar-
ring the use of state resources
to enforce federal immigra-
tion policy. Rosenblum subse-
quently sought to join Wash-
ington’s lawsuit against the
Trump administration’s immi-
gration orders.
“Gov. Brown supports the
amendment and looks for-
ward to signing the racial pro-
filing bill into law to better
protect all Oregonians,” said
Bryan Hockaday, the gover-
nor’s press secretary.
Kotek requested the sen-
tencing change to be added
to an amendment to a bill that
requires police to collect data
on race when they pull over
drivers or pedestrians. The bill
is meant to discourage racial
profiling by law enforcement.
Kotek made the request
after receiving feedback
from community groups, law
enforcement,
immigration
attorneys and others work-
ing on the racial profiling
bill, said Lindsey O’Brien, a
spokeswoman in the Speak-
er’s Office.
Felonies, certain violent
crimes and 365-day or greater
sentences for gross misde-
meanors can trigger manda-
tory deportation under federal
law. Class A misdemeanors in
Oregon can range from falsi-
fying information and writing
a bad check to fourth-degree
assault.
“Shifting to 364 days
means our fellow Orego-
nians are not subject to that
very drastic penalty,” Man-
ning said.
As an immigration attor-
Oregon GMO pre-emption battle continues in Senate
Bill would restore
local control over
crop regulations
By MATEUSZ
PERKOWSKI
Capital Bureau
SALEM — A proposal to
allow local governments in Ore-
gon to regulate genetically engi-
neered crops has died in the state
House but the battle remains
alive in the Senate.
State lawmakers prohibited
most local governments from
restricting seed in 2013, but
Senate Bill 1037 would exempt
genetically modified organisms,
or GMOs, from that statewide
pre-emption law.
A similar proposal, House
Bill 2469, failed to survive a
recent legislative deadline in the
House Committee on Agricul-
ture and Natural Resources.
However, Senate Bill 1037
was timely scheduled for a work
session on Wednesday before
the Senate Committee on Envi-
ronment and Natural Resources,
which is chaired by state Sen.
Mike Dembrow, D-Portland, the
bill’s chief sponsor.
While committee members
didn’t take action on SB 1037,
they did hear conflicting testi-
mony about the right to self-de-
termination among local gov-
ernments versus the efficiency
of statewide agricultural rules.
“We’re asking for flexibil-
ity in Oregon,” said Mary Mid-
dleton, director of Oregonians
for Safe Farms and Families, a
group that supported a ballot ini-
tiative banning GMOs in Jose-
phine County.
While voters in Josephine
County voted in favor of the
GMO ban in 2014, a state judge
has ruled the ordinance is pre-
empted by state law.
Middleton urged the com-
mittee members to “honor the
will of the people” by passing
SB 1037, which would retroac-
tively make Josephine County’s
ordinance effective.
Proponents of SB 1037
argued that lawmakers passed
the statewide pre-emption on
local seed rules with the under-
standing that Oregon regulators
would step into the breach, but
that hasn’t materialized.
“Our farms remain at risk of
contamination because the state
has not put any protections in
place,” said Carol Valentine, a
Josephine County resident.
The Association of Ore-
gon Counties opposes SB 1037
because genetic engineering is
a complex issue best left to the
state government, said Mike
McArthur, the group’s execu-
tive director.
“This is not the proper role
for a county government to be
engaged in,” he said.
Lawmakers created an
exception to the 2013 pre-emp-
tion bill for Jackson County,
which already had a GMO ban
proposal on its ballot at that
point.
McArthur said the govern-
ment of Jackson County is none-
theless not enforcing the GMO
ban due to a lack of resources.
Craig Pope, a Polk County
commissioner, said he sympa-
thizes with the organic farming
community but said county gov-
ernments need to focus on pub-
lic safety and other key services.
“Continuing to hammer
at pre-emption is not going to
solve this problem,” Pope said.
The economic threat of
cross-pollination
among
organic, conventional and GMO
crops was also debated at the
hearing.
Buyers of organic seed have
no tolerance for traces of biotech
traits, so the risk posed by GMO
crops is a “one way street” that
can only damage organic grow-
ers, said Don Tipping, an organic
producer in southern Oregon.
“For us, this is an economic
issue,” he said.
Helle Ruddenklau, a seed
grower in Polk County who
opposed SB 1037, said the prob-
lem of cross-pollination isn’t
limited to GMO crops, but
farmers find ways to resolve the
issue.
For example, if a neighbor
is planting a related seed crop,
Ruddenklau establishes a buffer
strip to distance her crop from
the pollen, she said.
“That’s a financial burden for
us, but it’s a cost of being a cer-
tified seed grower in Oregon,”
she said.
The Capital Bureau is a col-
laboration between EO Media
Group and Pamplin Media
Group.
ney, Manning said he sees
legal immigrants deported for
misdemeanor crimes all of the
time.
“I couldn’t even count
for you how many times,”
he said. “It’s extremely pain-
ful and sad … and is a form
of stigmatization against
noncitizens.”
The House Judiciary Com-
mittee adopted the amendment
and approved the overarching
bill in March. No one addressed
the significance of the sentenc-
ing change at that time.
Reps. Sal Esquivel of
Medford, and Mike Nearman
of Independence said they
oppose the change because
they see it as an attempt to cir-
cumvent federal law.
“To me that is a way to
dodge the federal law,” said
Esquivel, who is the son of
a legal Mexican immigrant.
“You’re on probation when
you come here on a green
card.”
The two Republican law-
makers co-sponsored legis-
lation this session to outlaw
sanctuary city designations
and to make English the
state’s official language.
Several Oregon cities,
including Portland, have
declared themselves sanc-
tuary cities for immigrants,
and the Trump administration
has threatened to pull federal
grants and other funding from
those jurisdictions.
The bill is now before the
Joint Committee on Ways and
Means but won’t have another
hearing until May, said Rep.
Duane Stark, R-Grants Pass,
chairman of the Subcommit-
tee on Public Safety.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
You r Ticket TO THE
The Oregon Coast
$
7-Day Pass... ONLY 30
The NW Connector is your ticket to the
Oregon Coast. No car, no problem. Bike
the coast?...why not! Short stay long
stay... okay!
Explore the scenic Oregon Coast
with the NW Connector’s daily,
round trip buses running from
Astoria to Yachats. Affordable
three and seven-day passes with
unlimited FREE transfers
all along our beautiful coast.
Plan your trip at:
www. nwconnector .net
(Oh yeah...did we mention we’ve
got bike racks?)
Experienced in
Industrial and
Commercial Projects
N e w
Big and Small!
Our union electricians
are members of the
local community
and are ready
to bring power to
your projects !
Established 2000
Full color,
scenic montage
postcards of Astoria
now available at the
Daily Astorian
office!
Excellent Tax Credits and
an Energy Trust Grant
can pay for up to 75% of a
PV Solar System
C ALL
503.717.9148
OR CCB# 151632
WA LIC# NORTHBE941
For around-the-clock service or
project planning and scheduling
Tourists, visitors, family & friends will love sending these!
949 Exchange Street, Astoria • 503-325-3211
Serving the Long Beach Peninsula & North Oregon Coast
1725 N. Roosevelt Drive
Seaside, OR 97138
9 1 1
Spring
into
TM
THE N UM BER TO K N O W
Style Show & Dessert
Saturday, April 29th
2:00 to 4:00 pm
ASTORIA GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB
Sunset Beach Road & Highway 101
All Proceeds go to local scholarships
$30 - Students $20
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT:
Beach Books (Seaside)
By the Way (Gearhart)
Astoria Golf & Country Club
Cannon Beach Book Company
NOTE: TICKETS WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR
Sponsored by
As April is 9 -1-1 educa tio n m o nth,
M edix Am bula nce Service w o uld like to tha nk
the dispa tch tea m s a t M edix, Asto ria ,
Sea side a nd Pa cific Co unty, W A 9 -1-1 centers
fo r their ha rd w o rk.
The best w a y to help 9 -1-1 dispa tchers help yo u is by rem em bering to :
REM AIN CALM , BE PREPARED
• T ry to sta y ca lm , give in form a tion a n d follow a ll in struction s.
• P rofession a l ca ll-ta kers a re tra in ed to get in form a tion from you.
L isten very ca refully a n d a n sw er a s con cisely a s possible.
• Rem em ber th a t even if th e dispa tch er is still a skin g question s
or givin g in struction s, h elp is on th e w a y.
• Y ou ca n sa ve a life! D o n ot h a n g up un til th e ca ll-ta ker does.