OREGON POLITICS
Saturday, October 6, 2018
East Oregonian
Page 9A
Buehler’s record on immigration inconsistent
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
Rep. Knute Buehler,
Republican nominee for
governor, has staked incon-
sistent positions on immi-
gration, a review of his pub-
lic record establishes.
The Republican legislator
from Bend has voted against
state legislation that protects
immigrants, but supported
tighter controls over racial
profiling.
His voting record shows
a conservative approach
toward expanding state ben-
efits, such as health cover-
age to children brought to
the country illegally.
His immigration stance
is squarely in the spot-
light with his support of a
state measure to repeal Ore-
gon’s 31-year-old sanctuary
law, which bars local police
from helping enforce federal
immigration policy.
And it puts him at odds
with Democratic Gov. Kate
Brown, who supports the
sanctuary law.
Three Republican legis-
lators and Oregonians for
Immigration Reform peti-
tioned for Measure 105,
arguing that too many state
resources are used to sup-
port undocumented immi-
grants at the expense of cit-
izens. They also assert that
immigrants who come to the
country illegally often vio-
late the law, such as acquir-
ing a fraudulent identity or
driving uninsured.
“I’ll be voting for Mea-
sure 105,” Buehler said in
a Sept. 20 interview with
the Pamplin Media Group.
“I’m not campaigning for it.
It’s not a central part of my
gubernatorial campaign.”
Yet, Bueler said he
opposes the racial profiling
that the sanctuary law was
designed to prevent.
“We need to assure peo-
ple that racial profiling is not
going to ever be tolerated in
Oregon.”
He argued that Oregon’s
sanctuary law is no longer
necessary because the 2015
legislation, which he sup-
Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian
In this May 15, 2018 file photo, Republican gubernatorial candidate Knute Buehler
joins supporters in Wilsonville.
ported, explicitly prohibited
profiling.
The law requires police
agencies to enact prac-
tices prohibiting profiling,
defined as stopping someone
based on characteristics such
as their race, ethnicity, color,
national origin, language or
religion.
“I think the original inten-
tion of the sanctuary city
legislation has been really
updated and taken care of
with that (2015) legislation,”
Buehler said.
He argued the sanctu-
ary law should be repealed
because it confuses police,
judges and district attorneys
about when they can cooper-
ate with federal authorities.
Without providing evi-
dence, Buehler said that the
law is applied inconsistently
throughout the state.
But the 16 sheriffs
endorsing repeal of the sanc-
tuary law in a joint letter
two months ago didn’t state
any concern that the law is
applied inconsistently.
“The statute undermines
respect for law in signifi-
cant ways,” wrote Clatsop
County Sheriff Tom Bergin,
the letter’s lead author. “It
tells illegal immigrants that
Oregon considers immigra-
tion-law violations so incon-
sequential as to be unworthy
of police and sheriffs’ atten-
tion. In doing so, it legiti-
mizes those violations and
encourages more.”
For instance, some immi-
grants commit identity theft
“to conceal their illegal pres-
ence,” he wrote.
Buehler “says he is going
to vote for Ballot Measure
105, but then as governor,
he nonetheless will follow
the basic tenets of the sanc-
tuary law? That’s inconsis-
tent on his part,” said Rick
LaMountain, a member of
Oregonians for Immigration
Reform and chief sponsor of
a successful 2014 referen-
dum to deny driver cards to
undocumented immigrants.
“The more he addresses
(Measure 105) the more
he confuses me and prob-
ably a lot of other people,”
LaMountain said.
After winning the Repub-
lican primary, Buehler
announced his support for
Measure 105 in a July inter-
view with radio host Lars
Larson.
Then, in an early Sep-
tember interview with Ore-
gon Public Broadcasting,
Buehler said he supports the
tenets of the sanctuary law
but wants it repealed.
Those on both sides of
Buehler calls for Kavanaugh replacement
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
State Rep. Knute Buehler,
GOP candidate for governor,
on Thursday called on Presi-
dent Trump to replace Brett
Kavanaugh as nominee for
the U.S. Supreme Court.
“At this point I strongly
believe President Trump
should withdraw the nomi-
nation and put someone for-
ward that can gain bipartisan
support. This is a time to heal
a deeply divided nation and
this is a wonderful opportu-
nity to do so,” Buehler said.
“I hope President Trump
proceeds in that direction.”
The comment, made in
response to a question at a
televised gubernatorial debate
in Medford, marks the first
time Buehler has taken an
unequivocal stance on what
should happen to Kavanaugh.
The comment came hours
before the U.S. Senate set in
motion procedures to con-
firm Kavanaugh. A final Sen-
ate vote could come as early
as Saturday.
Buehler initially was
reluctant to weigh in on the
nomination. Following a U.S.
Senate committee hearing on
Christine Blasey Ford’s sex-
ual misconduct allegations
against Kavanaugh, Buehler
called for the nomination to
be put on hold pending an
FBI investigation.
“This has been a historic
week for our country,” Bue-
hler said in a debate Thurs-
day night. “It’s opened a lot
of people’s eyes and the tes-
timony from Professor Bla-
sey Ford and Judge Kavana-
ugh has been compelling and
authentic. I think it’s deeply
troubling, though — the accu-
sations that have come for-
ward, the temperament that
Judge Kavanaugh has shown,
and I call out and congratu-
late the moderates in both par-
ties, both the Republicans and
Democrats who called for the
FBI investigation and slowed
down the process.”
His stance puts him
largely on the side of Dem-
ocrats who also have been
calling on U.S. senators to
reject Kavanaugh.
Gov. Kate Brown, Bue-
hler’s Democratic opponent,
participated in a demonstra-
tion Sept. 24 against Kava-
naugh’s confirmation.
On
Thursday,
she
repeated her position.
“I believe Dr. Christine
Blasey Ford. I believe all the
survivors out there,” she said.
She noted that as gover-
nor, she has appointed about
50 Oregon trial and appellate
judges. She said she seeks
judges who are honest, care
about people and have a calm
and collected temperament.
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to misdemeanors crimes
for possessing personal use
amounts of six drugs. The
legislation was driven by
findings that Oregon blacks
were disproportionately con-
victed of drug felonies for
having small amounts. Last
month, a state report found
the law was working and
that there was a decreased
disproportionality in drug
convictions between black
and white Oregonians.
He opposed legisla-
tion that provides Oregon
Health Plan benefits to chil-
dren brought to the country
illegally.
Earlier this year, he
opposed allowing those
whose participation as
Deferred Action for Child-
hood Arrivals had expired to
nonetheless renew or replace
their driver’s license.
Brown, meantime, has
moved to fortify Oregon’s
sanctuary status in response
to immigration policies
proposed by the Trump
administration.
In early 2017, she issued
an executive order to pro-
hibit state employees from
participating in a Mus-
lim registry, an idea Trump
floated but never advanced.
Under her administra-
tion, the state has sued the
federal government several
times over immigration pol-
icies. Lawsuits have chal-
lenged the Trump admin-
istration for separating
families that enter the coun-
try illegally, the elimina-
tion of the executive order
creating Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals that
made it easier for immi-
grants brought to the coun-
try illegally as children to
stay in the country, and the
travel ban for visitors from
certain countries.
The U.S. Supreme Court
in June upheld Trump’s
travel ban.
The family separation
and DACA cases are still
pending, but Oregon and
other states won a prelim-
inary injunction in Febru-
ary leaving the program in
place.
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the issue took note of Bue-
hler’s equivocation.
“I think he is probably
trying to have it both ways,”
LaMountain said. “He got
a lot of pushback when he
came out on Measure 105
and now is trying to back-
track on that.”
Sushma Raghavan, field
director at Unite Oregon —
a pro-immigrant advocacy
organization that helped
draft the state’s profiling leg-
islation — agreed that Bue-
hler “is trying to say what-
ever he can to get elected.”
“Immigrant rights are
under attack, and we need
to make sure our leadership
is protecting all Oregonians
regardless of their back-
ground,” said Kayse Jama,
executive director of Unite
Oregon. “This is not the
right time to repeal this law.”
Monica
Wroblewski,
spokeswoman for Buehler’s
campaign, said Tuesday that
his position “has been con-
sistent from the beginning.”
“Clearly, Knute’s reasons
for supporting the measure
are not the same as those that
wrote the letter,” she said.
“That doesn’t mean that his
concerns about the inconsis-
tent application of the cur-
rent law are not valid.”
The state sanctuary law
outlines when local authori-
ties can cooperate with fed-
eral Immigration and Cus-
toms Enforcement.
Police may share infor-
mation to verify the immi-
gration status and the crim-
inal background of someone
they’ve arrested or to arrest
a suspect for whom a federal
criminal warrant has been
issued.
Some law enforcement
officials, including Mult-
nomah County Sheriff Mike
Reese and Deschutes County
District Attorney John Hum-
mel, oppose Measure 105.
Oregon’s law allows
police to “appropriately
share information with our
federal partners” when an
immigrant commits a fel-
ony or serious misdemeanor
crime, Reese said in July.
“It keeps our local police
focused on solving crimes
by letting victims and wit-
nesses know that they can
report crime to us without
fear of their immigration sta-
tus,” he said.
Buehler said he opposes
using local police for “routine
federal immigration activi-
ties, meaning that if you are
a victim or a witness of a
crime you should feel safe
approaching law enforce-
ment, especially if you
are undocumented, and be
assured that that information
is not going to be shared or
be used in any way to enforce
federal immigration policy.”
Between 2015 and 2018,
Buehler opposed a series of
pro-immigrant legislation
that nonetheless passed the
Oregon Legislature.
In 2015, he opposed
expanding financial aid,
called the Oregon Opportu-
nity Grant, to Oregon grad-
uates who were unable to
prove legal U.S. residency.
In 2017, he opposed leg-
islation that prohibited state
employees from asking
about immigration status or
disclosing that information
to other government author-
ities without a court order or
warrant.
Buehler also opposed a
bill to reduce from felonies
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