Nine Oregon sheriff’s departments recently announced they would no longer honor federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold requests, and an effort is being made to make Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office (UCSO) the 10th.
The announcement by the nine sheriff’s departments comes on the heels of a federal court ruling last week that Clackamas County violated the 4th Amendment when it held a woman in custody for 15 days based solely on an ICE request.
Jorge Valenzuela, regional director for the United Farm Workers union, asked the Hermiston Hispanic Advisory Committee Monday night to join an effort to convince the UCSO to be the latest to refuse to hold foreign-born persons longer than necessary based only on ICE requests.
“We want to ask our sheriff to do the same as the nine other counties,” he said. The committee voiced its support of the effort. Valenzuela initially asked the committee to seek help from the city of Hermiston, but committee member and Hermiston City Councilor George Anderson said it was a county issue. Anderson, however, said he would personally talk to county officials to see where they stand on the issue and if any plans are in the works to join the nine other counties.
Sheriff’s offices in Clackamas, Washington, Multnomah, Gilliam, Marion, Hood River, Wasco, Sherman, and Deschutes counties announced just last week that they will no longer hold people to be interrogated on their immigration status at the request of ICE.
On April 11, a federal court ruled in favor of Maria Miranda-Olivares and determined her 4th Amendment rights were violated when she was held for 15 days in the Clackamas County Jail in March 2012 at the request of ICE. She sued the county, arguing that the sheriff’s office could not legally detain her without probable cause.
Audience members Monday night shared stories of being detained in similar cases and said often times the only question they are asked is where they were born. If born outside the United States, they were detained until ICE could determine their immigration status.
Also at Monday’s meeting, Hermiston City Council candidate Jesus Rome spoke to the committee about his candidacy. Rome said, if elected, he would like to focus on creating more multi-cultural events for the city.
Anderson, who is not seeking another term on the city council, received a round of applause from his fellow committee members and the audience for his service and contributions to the Hispanic community in Hermiston.
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