President Trump's immigration orders have caused alarm and fear for local communities. There has been some solace for locals because Oregon is a Sanctuary state, and Portland is a Sanctuary city, meaning officials won't aid Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in trying to detain residents.
But that status could mean becoming a target of the "No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act," a bill that Congress is expected to consider soon. If passed, it would allow federal funding that states and cities rely on for unrelated programs, like education, food benefits, and infrastructure investment, to be frozen if they don't help facilitate mass deportations.
"Communities are going to be hurt," said Naureen Shah, the Deputy Director of Government Affairs, Equality Division, at the ACLU. "We're talking about losing the local bus line, losing Meals on Wheels, ways that have nothing to do with immigration whatsoever."
Shah has a different name for the Act -- the "Defund Our Communities Act."
Shah says, even cities and towns that don't think of themselves as "sanctuary cities" could be considered as such in the context of the law, because of how broadly it's written. There are other reasons that local law enforcement may fall under the sanctuary umbrella, even if they don't have a law on the books. Maybe the sheriff's department is understaffed and can't safely hold people ICE wants to detain in their local jail. Maybe the sheriff is worried about being sued for holding someone after their release window for ICE.
"If you are not holding people for ICE, you will be considered a sanctuary jurisdiction," Shah said. "It's saying we'll punish you by taking away your funding, for making a decision about how to use local resources."
The first Trump administration targeted immigrants and sanctuary cities too, but Shah says this time around, they seem "emboldened."
"We saw some of these same attacks in the first administration ... but this is those attacks on steroids."
She notes, the arguments the administration is making to support its immigration crackdown were rejected by the courts in the first administration and are "legally baseless."
But even if court challenges do prevent sweeping actions by the Trump administration from being enacted, there's still a serious chilling effect for states and localities. Officials have to make decisions about how to spend their time and money, and that includes doing the calculation -- can they rely on the federal dollars they've traditionally received?
Oregon's Sanctuary Promise Act was strengthened by the legislature in 2021, and while state and local agencies have to respect it, it's still necessary to be vigilant.
"The state law is valid, but that doesn't mean we're always going to see compliance by local law enforcement, it is something that state authorities need to guard against."
If the federal government were to take Oregon to court over the state's sanctuary status, the same arguments that have succeeded in past court cases would be likely to prevail, Shah says.
"Under the 10th Amendment of our Constitution, the state government does not have to provide its resources, it can't be commandeered by the federal government for a federal program, which is what Immigration Enforcement is."
Hear our full conversation with Shah here.
- KBOO