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PENDLETON, Oregon The American Civil Liberties Union has issued a call thats been heard locally asking citizens to pressure local law enforcement to stop hassling people about their immigration status. Both Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan and Jail Administrator Capt. Stewart Harp say that doesnt happen here, because of both court rulings and Oregon law.

Harp said that when the Department of Immigration and Naturalization Service issues a detainer to hold on to a prisoner in the jail, its ignored. Thats because courts have ruled that the detainer isnt enough to hold someone. An arrest warrant is required. Harp says INS continues to issue detainers, and UCSO continues to ignore them.

If INS has an interest in them, theyre notified through the booking process that the individual is in custody, Harp said. If they want to do something with them, theyre going to have to come and get them, because their detainers just arent valid.

Rowan says theres another myth that might be true in some locations but doesnt happen in Oregon and thats the idea that local law enforcement can stop and question people simply to inquire about their citizenship status. State law has forbidden that for the last 30 years.

No local police department, sheriffs office, or local entity can use state resources for the furtherance of immigration violations, Rowan said.

That law, which was passed in 1987, never created much of a controversy at the time, according to political observers. Considering the Trump Administrations crackdown on illegal aliens, it is now being copied by other states in their quest to become sanctuary states.

Read more:
UCSO combats myths about illegal immigrants - My Columbia Basin