March 24, 2021
The
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INSIDE L O C A L N E W S
Week in Review
M ETRO
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Members of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners wear face masks to prevent the spread
of the coronavirus.
Call for Tear Gas Ban
Commissioners lead effort to protect children, others
&
Housing
Community
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The Multnomah County Board
of Commissioners has asked
Secretary of Homeland Security
Alejandro Mayorkas to prohibit
the use of chemical munitions by
federal police when in close prox-
imity to schools, neighborhoods,
and other areas where vulnerable
children and adults may work, live
or play.
In a March 15 letter, the Board
decried the use of tear gas in res-
idential areas, parks, and other
places where vulnerable individ-
uals may be present, and called
on Secretary Mayorkas to ban or
restrict their use by federal law en-
forcement officers.
Commissioner Sharon Meieran
led the effort after hearing con-
cerns from a Portland school and a
community service provider locat-
ed near the U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement facility in
the South Waterfront area, the K-8
Cottonwood School of Civics &
Science and REACH Community
Development.
The ICE facility has been
the site of many protests during
which federal law enforcement
officers have deployed tear gas
as a method of crowd control.
Physical debris and residual toxic
chemicals have been found on the
schoolyard, causing significant
concern about the environmental
and physical health impacts on
young children, teachers, and the
surrounding neighborhood, coun-
ty officials said.
“This indiscriminate use of
chemical weapons does not just
c ontinued on p age 4
Racial Justice Bills Introduced
Leaders call for
criminal justice
system overhaul
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O PINION
C LASSIFIED /B IDS
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Oregon lawmakers are hear-
ing from the Portland Urban
League, civil rights groups and
other calling for an overhaul of
Oregon’s criminal justice system
to address unequal impacts on
people of color, from mass incar-
ceration to police misconduct.
A legislative hearing was held
last week that directed an ap-
pointed group of lawmakers and
leaders from Black, Indigenous,
Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander
and refugee communities called
the Racial Justice Council to
study potential changes to the
criminal justice system and to
provide results to the full Leg-
islative no later than the end of
the year.
Sen. Kayse Jama, D-Portland,
a Somali refugee who co-found-
Sen. Kayse Jama
Nkenge Harmon Johnson
ed Unite Oregon to help uplift
struggling Oregonians and the
state’s first Muslim senator, tes-
tified in support of the measure,
saying it is an important step in
addressing the root causes of the
most serious harms in law en-
forcement policies.
“The public safety system
does not work for Black, Indig-
enous and people of color. Too
many fellow community mem-
bers have lost their lives or been
separated from their families and
excluded from economic oppor-
tunities due to systemic racism
in the public safety system,”
Jama said.
The bill is geared to promote
restorative justice, advance im-
migrant justice, and improve law
enforcement accountability.