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Oregon Laws to Prevent Police Abuses Threatened By ANDREA MEYER AND DAVID FIDANQUE We are expecting that two Oregon laws-unique in the nation-will be under attack during the 2003 Oregon legislative session, thanks in large part to the actions of U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. The first law, ORS 181.575, prohibits state and local police from collecting or keeping information about the political, religious or social views, associations or activities of any individual or group unless there is reason to believe the person is, or may be, involved in criminal activity. This 1981 law was passed at the urging of the Oregon ACLU after disclosures of political spying by the Portland Police Bureau, the FBI and others in the 1970s. The second law, ORS 181.850, prohibits state and local police from detaining or apprehending individuals whose only offense is a violation of federal immigration laws. It does allow police to check on the immigration status of a person who is arrested for a local crime. This law was approved in 1987 after joint local and federal law enforcement agencies carried out raids targeting the Latino community. Both laws have been under heavy pressure since Portland officials÷to their credit÷refused to participate in U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroftâs dragnet interrogations of Muslim and Middle Eastern men last year. |
Other 181 Links Text of the Measures 181.575 Specific information not to be collected or maintained. No law enforcement agency, as defined in ORS 181.010, may collect or maintain information about the political, religious or social views, associations or activities of any individual, group, association, organization, corporation, business or partnership unless such information directly relates to an investigation of criminal activities, and there are reasonable grounds to suspect the subject of the information is or may be involved in criminal conduct. [1981 c.905 ¤8] 181.850 Enforcement of federal immigration laws. (1) No law enforcement agency of the State of Oregon or of any political subdivision of the state shall use agency moneys, equipment or personnel for the purpose of detecting or apprehending persons whose only violation of law is that they are persons of foreign citizenship residing in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws. (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, a law enforcement agency may exchange information with the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service in order to: (a) Verify the immigration status of a person if the person is arrested for any criminal offense; or (b) Request criminal investigation information with reference to persons named in service records. (3) For purposes of subsection (1) of this section, the Bureau of Labor and Industries is not a law enforcement agency. [1987 c.467 ¤1] |
Since then, Ashcroft has unleashed plans to have state and local police officers arrest thousands of immigrants who may have minor immigration violations. He has also eliminated many restrictions on federal law enforcement agents that were designed to prevent unwarranted spying on people and organizations because of their political and religious beliefs.
The need for the safeguards of the two Oregon laws is as important today as any time in the past. It is our hope that these laws will be duplicated by other states-not eliminated in Oregon.
Ashcroftâs dragnet interrogations of Muslim and Middle Eastern men was reminiscent of the actions taken by the FBI in the 1930s to get local police to identify Japanese Americans÷long before Pearl Harbor. It was that secret surveillance and accompanying files that helped the U.S. military carry out the internment of tens of thousands in 1942.
As for political spying, one would think that the legion of abuses carried out by the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover would have been enough to convince Congress to prohibit surveillance based on peopleâs political, religious and social views and activities. But Congress has never adopted legislation to prohibit political spying.
Instead, the only protections have been put in place by a series of U.S. Attorney Generals beginning with the Ford Administration and continuing for more than 20 years. Now Attorney General Ashcroft has eliminated many of those safeguards. Federal agents can now secretly infiltrate political organizations, churches, synagogues and mosques÷even if there is no evidence of criminal activity. We want to be sure that Oregon police officers donât engage in these types of practices. Itâs bad enough that the FBI and other federal agents have such sweeping powers.
The Oregon law that prohibits state and local police from enforcing federal immigration law has helped prevent some racial profiling and also has helped law enforcement to begin to establish positive relationships with immigrant communities. As a result, immigrants may be more likely to report crimes to the police, such as domestic violence, drug activity and theft, and attempts by gangs and unscrupulous employers to intimidate and exploit immigrants have been reduced.
Federal immigration laws are complex and frequently changing. Local law enforcement agencies do not have the resources to work as agents of the federal immigration services when they need to be investigating and solving serious local crimes.
We are helping to organize a growing coalition of organizations to work with legislators to maintain or even strengthen these two important laws next session.