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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2018
Letter: Trump administration has sought to penalize sanctuary states
Continued from Page 1A
want victims to come forward
and feel like they’re reasonably
protected.”
People who oppose the
measure, including a host of
business, religious, labor, law
enforcement and Hispanic
groups, have said a repeal of
the state sanctuary law could
lead to racial profiling. Ber-
gin called the assertions
“insulting.”
“I can honestly say that
I have never witnessed an
instance of racial profiling
from any of my deputies,” Ber-
gin wrote. “They serve and
protect all who need assistance
regardless or race, origin or
creed.”
McKee said Bergin’s com-
ments dismiss experiences
described by people of color.
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“It only takes a quick inter-
net search to find cases of ICE
deporting noncitizens who
called the police for help. If
Measure 105 passes, people of
color will, once again, bear the
brunt of the fallout,” McKee
said. “This letter signed by the
16 sheriffs is nothing short of
open hostility towards commu-
nities of color, immigrants and
noncitizens.”
Astoria Police Chief Geoff
Spalding said a repeal likely
would not have much of an
impact on the police depart-
ment’s daily operations.
“We will continue to be not
proactive in seeking immigra-
tion violators,” Spalding said.
“That would be a fairly sub-
stantial policy shift, and I don’t
see that happening.”
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin, shown here in front of
the old Clatsop County Jail, has taken a leading role in a
measure that would repeal Oregon’s sanctuary law.
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The other sheriffs who
signed the letter mostly hail
from other rural counties: Gil-
liam, Harney, Morrow, Sher-
man, Umatilla, Malheur,
Douglas, Curry, Coos, Klam-
ath, Union, Grant, Wheeler,
Lake and Deschutes.
Bergin’s letter includes
a reference to Mollie Tib-
betts, a 20-year-old woman
whose body was discov-
ered in an Iowa cornfield ear-
lier this month after a week-
slong search. Cristhian Bahena
Rivera, 24, an undocumented
immigrant from Mexico, has
been charged with first-degree
murder in connection with her
death.
The case “has refocused
attention on the violence and
heartbreak illegal immigrant
criminals can visit on Ameri-
cans and their families,” Ber-
gin wrote.
Several of Tibbetts’ rela-
tives and friends have pushed
back against politicians who
have used her death in argu-
ments for tougher immigra-
tion laws. Her father, Rob
Tibbetts, in his eulogy at her
funeral, specifically criticized
the vitriol against the Hispanic
community.
“We are deeply troubled
that elected officials continue
to perpetuate the myth of the
criminal immigrant,” said Erin
McKee, co-director of the
Immigrants Rights Project at
the Oregon Justice Resource
Center, in a statement. “Studies
have shown, repeatedly, that
immigrants commit crimes at
lower rates than native-born
citizens.
Sheriff Bergin’s statement
not only ignores facts and sta-
tistics, but it also relies on tired,
fear-mongering rhetoric that
misleads the public on how the
law works.”
The measure in Oregon
comes at a time when Presi-
dent Donald Trump is press-
ing immigration reform as a
national priority. The Trump
administration has sought to
penalize sanctuary states and
cities, condemning the lack of
cooperation on immigration
enforcement as a threat to pub-
lic safety. Supporters point to
the focus on immigration as a
sign that the measure has legs.
The sheriffs who signed
the letter in favor of repeal-
ing the sanctuary law represent
counties that backed Trump
in the 2016 presidential elec-
tion, except for Bergin. Clat-
sop County favored former
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, who won in Oregon
based on her strength in Port-
land and other large metropoli-
tan regions.
“Certainly, immigration law
violations are federal offenses.
But they are precursors to other
crimes illegal immigrants rou-
tinely commit in their efforts to
conceal their illegal presence
— crimes like identity theft
— that harm everyday Orego-
nians at the local level. Such
crimes are well within local
police and sheriffs’ purview,”
Bergin wrote.
One outcome of a repeal
for sheriffs would be its poten-
tial to repair relationships with
U.S. Immigration and Cus-
toms Enforcement. The fed-
eral agency has repeatedly
criticized counties in the state
— including Clatsop — for
releasing undocumented immi-
grants from jail after they are
arrested for crimes unrelated to
their immigration status.
In response, Bergin has said
that while he would like to
detain inmates on ICE holds,
he is concerned about potential
civil rights lawsuits. He hopes
a sanctuary law repeal would
create a more fluid relationship
between his office and ICE.
“This is an additional strain
on the system which should
not be happening in the first
place,” Bergin wrote. “To have
the ability to work with our
federal partners would allevi-
ate the inconsistency and stop
the erosion and ineffectiveness
of these sanctuary laws.”
While not expressing sup-
port or opposition to the mea-
sure, a number of law enforce-
ment officials in the county
have wondered if witnesses
or victims would be less will-
ing to report crimes without the
sanctuary law.
Bergin called arguments
about victim or witness coop-
eration “nonsense,” since offi-
cers would not risk jeopardiz-
ing criminal cases.
“When people step forward
to volunteer information about
criminal activity, law enforce-
ment officers are not going to
‘look a gift horse in the mouth’
by inquiring into their immi-
gration status,” Bergin wrote.
The Clatsop County Dis-
trict Attorney’s Office used to
allow undocumented immi-
grants to sign forms — called
“U visas” — that temporar-
ily set aside their immigration
status during an ongoing case.
Since Trump took office, pros-
ecutors have not been issuing
the forms out of concern that
the federal government won’t
honor the agreements, District
Attorney Josh Marquis said.
“Some who are victims
may be worried to come for-
ward,” Marquis said. “We
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