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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, FEbRuARy 5, 2022
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
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GUEST COLUMN
Limit the harm deportation inflicts
little over a year ago, when much
of the economy remained shut
due to the COVID pandemic, the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
issued a memo outlining the jobs essen-
tial to the nation’s critical infrastructure.
When researchers examined those
categories, they discovered that undocu-
mented workers are much more likely to
perform essential work
than U.S.-born workers.
In Oregon, about 3 out of
every 4 undocumented
workers are essential
workers.
Even so, undocu-
mented workers live
JANET
under the constant threat
BAUER
of deportation — the
threat of being removed
from this country, the threat of having
their families broken up.
While Oregon lawmakers can’t
change the immigration laws, they can
limit the harm deportation inflicts on
Oregon families and the state’s economy.
They can do so by enacting universal
legal representation.
Right now, some 9,000 Oregonians
are fighting deportation. An immigra-
tion case affects not only them, but their
8,000 family members, including 5,000
children — most of whom are U.S. citi-
zens or legal residents — and countless
members of their communities. More
than half of deportation cases end in
removal of the person.
A deportation proceeding takes a big
financial toll on families. Lost wages,
fees and other costs go on for years. Win
or lose their case, family finances suffer.
Researchers have found that, long after
the conclusion of the case, household
income lags by a third to more than half
its prior level.
Given that families with undoc-
umented members tend to be lower
income, a deportation proceeding sinks
families into deep economic hardship.
Families report losing their home to fore-
closure or eviction. Many admit to going
hungry.
Children, in particular, pay a heavy
price. One in 10 Oregon children live
with a relative who is undocumented.
These children live under constant fear
of having someone close to them being
A
Malheur Enterprise
A farmworker tends to row crops outside of Ontario.
taken away. When a parent is deported,
children experience anxiety, depression
and anger. Their schooling suffers; their
life goals are upended.
On top of the emotional trauma, chil-
dren must also make do with less. Our
organization estimated, conservatively,
that a child in Oregon who has a parent
deported loses about $56,000 in financial
support during their childhood years.
The harm from deportation spreads
beyond individuals and families — it
impacts the state’s economy. As has been
the case throughout our nation’s history,
today’s immigrants boost the economy
as workers, business owners, consumers
and taxpayers. Their removal weakens
the economy.
No industry is more at risk than Ore-
gon’s agriculture industry. Our analy-
sis showed that undocumented work-
ers make up nearly half of all farm labor
in Oregon, as the agriculture indus-
try finds it difficult to attract U.S.-born
workers. Because rural counties depend
more on agriculture than urban counties,
rural counties have a large stake in the
fate of undocumented residents facing
deportation.
Undocumented workers bolster the
economy in other ways. They buy food,
pay rent, have their cars fixed and pur-
chase other goods and services. These
dollars circulate in local economies,
helping sustain the businesses and jobs
of other Oregonians.
We estimated that if the current back-
log of deportation cases in Oregon is
decided according to long-term trends —
with a bit more than half of cases end-
ing in removal — then Oregon will have
about $130 million fewer dollars circu-
lating in the economy per year through
fewer purchases of goods and services.
While Oregon can’t fully eliminate
the harm from deportation, it can reduce
it. Legal representation plays a big role
in whether someone’s case ends in
deportation. Many Oregonians who are
deported never had the help of a lawyer.
Despite the federal government
always being represented by an experi-
enced attorney, immigrants facing depor-
tation are not entitled to a lawyer. Few
can afford one. Facing the court alone,
they often are unable to mount a strong
defense, even if they have good legal
grounds for remaining. It’s an inherently
unfair process.
In response to these challenges, the
Oregon Legislature can make a big dif-
ference. Enacting universal represen-
tation would provide all Oregonians in
immigration court the benefit of a law-
yer. This would go a long way in ensur-
ing that Oregonians are not wrongly
removed from their families, jobs and
communities.
Universal representation advances
justice, while protecting Oregon fami-
lies and the state’s economy. In this leg-
islative session, lawmakers should enact
universal representation.
Janet bauer is the director of policy
research at the Oregon Center for Pub-
lic Policy. This guest column was origi-
nally published by the Oregon Capital
Chronicle.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Standing for peace
W
hen Megan Casebourn and I decided
to start standing for peace for an
hour at the post office each Friday, in Feb-
ruary 2002, it was in response to Presi-
dent George W. Bush’s call for war against
Afghanistan, then Iraq.
In those days, 30, sometimes 50 or
more, would show up every week, many
with signs and banners and American flags,
mostly to show those driving and walk-
ing by that some in the community ask for
peaceful resolution to conflict, and to sug-
gest that the U.S. government might be
complicit in starting these wars of choice.
We, the voters, willingly or unwill-
ingly, pay taxes to keep the whole mil-
itary-war-corporate machine speeding
along, though most voters, and many vet-
erans, oppose these wars. Public witness is
essential, because if we don’t use our right
to peaceful dissent, we will surely lose it.
After President Barack Obama got
elected, people stopped showing up, since
he was the “peace president,” who won a
Nobel Prize shortly after his election, and
promised to get the U.S. military out of
foreign wars. But he was just kidding.
For 20 years, the Peace Gathering
has served as ritual, and carries with it
responsibility. Being present gives peo-
ple a rare opportunity for peaceful dissent
and a chance to try out discussing con-
tentious things with passersby of different
worldviews.
Now, the people of the U.S. are once
again being prepped for war. Please join
us on a Friday between 5 and 6 p.m. at the
corner of Eighth and Commercial streets
to witness for peace.
SUE SKINNER
Astoria
The most good
T
he idea that putting fencing or netting
on the Astoria Bridge would have any
effect on suicides makes no sense.
Most suicides are with guns, yet we
don’t make new gun laws or even enforce
many we have.
There are many high places available
for jumpers in our county.
Every jumper has problems they feel
can’t be resolved. This is where the help is
needed.
LETTERS WELCOME
Letters should be exclusive to The
Astorian. Letters should be fewer
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writer’s name, address and phone
number. You will be contacted to
confirm authorship. All letters are
subject to editing for space, gram-
mar and factual accuracy. Only two
letters per writer are allowed each
month. Letters written in response
Oregon comes in last for availability of
mental health care.
Let’s put that money where it will do
the most good.
DORIS LARREMORE
Astoria
to other letter writers should address
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Editor, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR.,
97103.
Let her know
n Jan. 14, the county commis-
sioners all over Senate Dis-
trict 16, including Clatsop County,
selected Rachel Armitage to serve the
O
rest of Betsy Johnson’s term after her
resignation.
Sen. Armitage is a lifelong Ore-
gonian, has experience as a legisla-
tive assistant in Salem, and has been an
active member of the Democratic Party
for years. She’s strong on jobs, hous-
ing and education. She’s in the process
of pursuing her master’s degree at Reed
College, where she is also employed.
I encourage everyone to welcome
our new senator and let her know what
is important to you and your family.
Her heart is in rural and coastal Ore-
gon, and she has the knowledge and the
determination we need in the state Sen-
ate right now.
Constituents can email her office:
Sen.RachelArmitage@oregonlegislature.
gov, or call her office at 503-986-1716.
KEN POTTER
Cannon Beach