Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 28, 2019)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Thursday, March 28, 2019 Oregon may grant driving privileges to undocumented immigrants By SARAH ZIMMERMAN Associated Press “THIS IS A SLAP IN THE FACE FOR CITIZEN PARTICIPATION. YOU WOULD THINK THAT AFTER OREGON OVERWHELMINGLY VOTED AGAINST THIS, THE LEGISLATURE WOULD AT LEAST BRING IT BACK TO THE VOTERS TO DECIDE.” SALEM — Every time Mariana Alvarez leaves her home, she crosses herself in prayer in hopes she will be able to return to her three children. Alvarez moved to Salem from Mexico, and lives in Oregon without proof of legal residence. Under state law, that means she isn’t eli- gible for a driver’s license. A quick trip to the gro- cery store or to the doc- tor’s office could end in her deportation, and she told a crowd of hundreds of immigrant rights activ- ists on Tuesday that she constantly lives “in fear of being separated.” But a federal overhaul of state driver’s licenses could give Oregon the chance to grant driving privileges to Alvarez and the state’s estimated 100,000 undoc- umented immigrants. Leg- islators are considering a measure expanding driver’s license access to all Oregon regardless of immigration status, as long as they pass their driver’s test and meet other DMV requirements. “Driver’s licenses are such a core, basic need for families,” said Andrea Wil- liams, executive director of the immigration rights group Causa. “While we may dis- Jim Ludwick, communications director for Oregonians for Immigration Reform. AP Photo/Sarah Zimmerman Mariana Alvarez, a field worker from Salem, speaks at a rally in front of the Oregon state Capitol in favor of expanding driver’s license access to undocumented immigrants Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in Salem, Ore. Alvarez says that she lives in fear of being separated from her family if she’s caught driving without a license. all state IDs and requires that these enhanced IDs be presented to enter federal buildings and board domes- tic flights without a passport. The Department of Homeland Security allows states to issue non-com- pliant cards for those who don’t have the documen- tation to prove their law- ful presence in the country, including victims of domes- tic violence and those expe- riencing homelessness. Oregon will create a two-tier identification sys- agree what to do federally about immigration reform, families should not be sepa- rated over a traffic stop.” Twelve states, plus the District of Columbia, cur- rently provide driver’s licenses regardless of immi- gration status. Oregon’s implementa- tion of the 2005 federal Real ID Act, said Williams, is an opportune moment for the state to also make such a change. The Real ID Act, passed after 9/11, sets mini- mum security standards for Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY Showers around this afternoon Rather cloudy Intervals of clouds and sunshine Periods of clouds and sunshine Mostly cloudy 56° 35° 55° 37° PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 60° 37° 57° 44° 62° 43° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 61° 37° 61° 38° 64° 38° 60° 47° 65° 45° OREGON FORECAST ALMANAC Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Seattle Olympia 60/42 49/33 60/34 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 58/40 Lewiston 63/41 61/37 Astoria 60/40 Pullman Yakima 56/36 64/33 55/38 Portland Hermiston 63/44 The Dalles 61/37 Salem Corvallis 59/40 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 52/31 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 59/41 52/31 52/31 Ontario 62/35 Caldwell Burns 49° 38° 61° 37° 78° (2015) 15° (1944) 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date Albany 60/39 0.03" 0.20" 0.78" 3.59" 2.38" 3.02" Today Boardman Pendleton Medford 60/39 SALEM (AP) — The sec- retary of state’s office says the Oregon Health Author- ity still needs to strengthen its efforts to detect and avoid improper Medicaid payments. The office’s audit division on Wednesday released a follow-up report to a 2017 audit that found widespread problems in the Health Authority’s pay- ment system for Medicaid. The Statesman Jour- nal reports that audi- tors found that two of the eight recommendations in the audit have been put in place and six recommen- dations have been partially implemented. OHA officials agreed with all the recommendations. Fri. WSW 3-6 NW 4-8 “This is a slap in the face for citizen participation,” said Jim Ludwick, commu- nications director for Ore- gonians for Immigration Reform. “You would think that after Oregon over- whelmingly voted against this, the legislature would at least bring it back to the vot- ers to decide.” Williams said that the emergency clause is neces- sary as the DMV will need the time to implement the change before the depart- ment starts issuing Real IDs in October 2020. “It’s not our Oregon val- ues to have families be sep- arated for trying to live their daily life,” she said. “Nobody should have to live in fear of deported from their family for going to work or taking their children to school.” Report: OHA falls short on fixing Medicaid payment problems WINDS (in mph) 57/35 51/29 0.16" 1.20" 1.24" 6.05" 3.71" 3.75" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 48/30 61/41 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date HERMISTON Enterprise 56/35 60/40 46° 38° 57° 37° 76° (1952) 23° (1975) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 63/35 Aberdeen 50/36 53/36 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 63/44 tem and issue both Real IDs and standard driver’s licenses, which are feder- ally non-compliant. Immigration rights advo- cates are pushing the legis- lature to drop citizenship as a requirement for standard driver’s licenses, which would allow undocumented immigrants to legally drive. At least 12 other states are considering a similar measure. The issue has become somewhat of a hot potato for Oregon, which, for years, was only one of eight states in the nation to grant licenses to unauthorized immigrants. Lawmakers initially reversed the prac- tice in 2008 to comply with federal ID laws, then back- tracked and voted to rein- state licenses for undocu- mented immigrants in 2013. But that 2013 law never took effect, because oppo- nents, including the group Oregonians for Immigra- tion Reform, were able to put the issue to the ballot. Oregon voters repealed the measure 66 to 34 percent. This time an emergency clause in the bill would immediately implement the law upon passage, making it far more difficult for the group to repeal it at the bal- lot box through the state’s robust referendum process. SW 4-8 WNW 4-8 The original 44-page audit, released in Novem- ber 2017, found problems such as poor management of payment and eligibil- ity issues and a lack of an agency-wide process to detect improper payments. At the time, auditors also found the agency had about $88 million in avoid- able expenses because of its backlog in determining eli- gibility for Medicaid recip- ients. Medicaid provided health insurance benefits to about one million low-in- come Oregonians in 2017. In January, Health Authority officials reported they had recovered about $42 million overpaid to organizations that coordi- nate Medicaid benefits. Recommendations not yet fully put in place vary. The new report found that the authority has devel- oped systemic controls for the Medicaid Manage- ment Information System, but still lacks an adequate understanding of how they work. The agency is taking steps to hire a contractor to test the controls’ effective- ness and report the results quarterly, the report said. On another front, the agency hasn’t yet clari- fied Oregon administra- tive rules to hold Medicaid providers accountable for improper payments. OHA has identified areas for improvements, but still needs to finish the rule-making process, the report said. CORRECTIONS: The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818. SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 47/31 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today New 6:44 a.m. 7:18 p.m. 2:55 a.m. 11:58 a.m. First Full NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 87° in Presidio, Texas Low -10° in Clayton Lake, Maine Apr 5 Apr 12 Diabetes Education Series Last Apr 19 Apr 26 NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Diabetes Self Management Series April 10 th , 17 th , 24 th & May 1 st 5:30pm to 7:30pm Advance Registration Required Most Major Insurances, Medicare, Medicaid For more information or to register 541-278-3249 Melissa Naff , RD, LD, CDE Diabetes Educator • 541-278-3249 2801 St. Anthony Way Pendleton, OR 97801 www.sahpendleton.org Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -10s -0s 0s showers t-storms 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow 40s 50s ice 60s cold front E AST O REGONIAN — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211 Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major holidays EastOregonian.com To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or go online to EastOregonian.com and click on ‘Subscribe’ East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday, Monday and postal holidays, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Copyright © 2019, EO Media Group 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front 110s high low Subscriber services: For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops or delivery concerns call 1-800-522-0255 ext. 1 SUBSCRIPTION RATES EZPay 52 weeks 26 weeks 13 weeks Local home delivery Savings (cover price) $13/month 60 percent $173.67 41 percent $91.86 38 percent $47.77 36 percent *EZ Pay = one-year rate with a monthly credit or debit card/check charge Single copy price: $1.50 Tuesday through Saturday Circulation Manager: Bonny Tuller, 541-966-0828 ADVERTISING Regional Publisher and Revenue Director: • Christopher Rush 541-278-2669 • crush@eomediagroup.com Advertising Services: • Angela Treadwell 541-966-0827 • atreadwell@eastoregonian.com • Grace Bubar 541-276-2214 • gbubar@eastoregonian.com Multimedia Consultants: • Jeanne Jewett 541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com • Audra Workman 541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com Business Office Coordinator • Dayle Stinson 541-278-2670 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com Classified & Legal Advertising 1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678 classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com NEWS • To submit news tips and press releases: call 541-966-0818 or email news@eastoregonian.com • To submit community events, calendar items and Your EO News: email community@eastoregonian.com or call Tammy Malgesini at 541-564-4539 or Renee Struthers at 541-966-0818. • To submit engagements, weddings and anniversaries: email rstruthers@eastoregonian.com or visit eastoregonian. com/community/announcements • To submit sports or outdoors information or tips: 541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com Business Office Manager: 541-966-0822 COMMERCIAL PRINTING Production Manager: Mike Jensen 541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com
