Oregon
Oregon’s incoming attorney general announces ‘cabinet’ to strategize Trump response
Dan Rayfield speaks at the Democratic election night party held at the Hilton in Portland, Ore., Nov. 5, 2024.
Brooke Herbert / OPB
Oregon’s incoming attorney general says he doesn’t need an infusion of cash to fund legal fights against the Trump administration next year. Instead, he’s looking for better intel from Democratic allies.
To that end, Attorney General-elect Dan Rayfield announced Thursday he’s creating a new “Federal Oversight and Accountability Cabinet” to give advocacy groups, unions and others a direct line to his office. It’s a way, Rayfield said, for people impacted by the new administration’s policies — likely to include steps like widespread deportations and environmental deregulation — to communicate those impacts to the office responsible for fighting what it considers federal overreach.
“If there were an attack on reproductive health,” Rayfield said, offering an example of the group’s utility, “we will have feelers out into the community, so that the state of Oregon can be more responsive and nimble in terms of protecting our values.”
A roster of participants in Rayfield’s proposed cabinet reads like a who’s who of prominent left-leaning groups, including public-sector labor unions, the ACLU of Oregon, the state’s largest Planned Parenthood affiliate, Basic Rights Oregon, and the Oregon League of Conservation Voters. It also includes a pair of law professors, and is expected to rope in healthcare organizations that may be impacted if Trump attempts to cut Medicaid funding.
Rayfield told OPB the membership isn’t about picking favorites.
“It’s more issue-based on where the most likely impact is coming from the federal government,” he said. “It’s the high-impact areas where we think Oregon has stuck its neck out.”
The announcement comes as Democratic states around the country are preparing possible responses to a litany of campaign promises Trump made on the campaign trail. Those responses inevitably include state attorneys general, who repeatedly challenged Trump policies in court during his first term. Outgoing Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum participated in dozens of lawsuits against the Trump administration during that time, often joining forces with the same group of more than a dozen Democratic-led states.
Following Trump’s victory in November, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, called a special session in order to set aside $25 million to challenge Trump’s actions in court. In a proposed budget unveiled earlier this month, Gov. Tina Kotek included a smaller infusion: $2 million to the Oregon Department of Justice to respond to federal actions.
Rayfield said that money might not be necessary.
“I think that there are ways to creatively work within the DOJ to meet the needs in Oregon,” he said. “It’s not like those things are done easily. You have to make sure that you’re utilizing resources and not taking away from other existing work.”
Among those planning to participate in Rayfield’s group is Melissa Unger, executive director of the state’s largest labor union, Service Employees International Union Local 503. Unger said Thursday her members are concerned about possible attempts to cut Medicaid, restrict access to abortions and deport undocumented immigrants.
“If things emerge that do not uphold Oregon’s values or the ways voters have spoken… how do we make sure that we’re standing up for Oregonians?” Unger said. “Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it’s something. But having people prepared to engage in this discussion is an opportunity.”
Also involved in the cabinet will be Joe Baessler, executive director of Oregon AFSCME Council 75, another large public-sector union. Baessler said he only learned about the new group on Wednesday, but he welcomed the approach.
“One of the things that was really frustrating with previous AGs was, like, ‘Sorry, we’re lawyers. We’re not going to tell you what’s going on,’” Baessler said. “It’s good they are talking about how they communicate the work they’re doing.”
Leading the new advisory group are DOJ attorneys Dustin Buehler and Fay Stetz-Walters. Rayfield said he hasn’t set any meeting dates for the group.
A roster of participants in the planned cabinet includes:
- Joe Baessler, Executive Director, Oregon AFSCME
- Sandy Chung, Executive Director, ACLU of Oregon
- Prof. Greg Dotson, University of Oregon School of Law
- Dr. Sara Kennedy, CEO, Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette
- Kyndall Mason, Executive Director, Basic Rights Oregon
- Isa Peña, Director of Strategy, Innovation Law Lab
- Jeremiah Rigsby, Chief of Staff, CareOregon
- Lindsey Scholten, Executive Director, Oregon League of Conservation Voters
- Melissa Unger, Executive Director, SEIU 503
- Prof. Norman Williams, Willamette University College of Law
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — Oregon officials asked the public to help find a two-year-old boy who went missing from Portland last Wednesday, June 17.
The Oregon Department of Human Services, Child Welfare Division, is asking the public to help find Armani Andrews and call 911 or local law enforcement if they believe they saw him.
Armani is believed to be in danger and is suspected to be in Portland, around any of the following areas: Rose Haven, Multnomah County Central Library, or Southeast Portland around 82nd-103rd.
Armani is a two-year-old Black/mixed race baby. He is about 24 inches tall, he has brown hair, brown eyes, and his weight is unknown.
If contacting Portland Police Bureau about Armani, reference the case number: #PP185430
The report number for Armani with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Report is: 2093182
ODHS said in a statement when a child is missing, they may be in significant danger and the department “may need to locate them to assess and support their safety.”
KATU News reached out to ODHS to clarify whether there is a custody aspect to the missing child’s case. The department said they are unable to provide that information.
Armani Andrews with Mother Rashonda Andrews/ODHS photos
You can report suspected child abuse to the Oregon Child Abuse Hotline by calling 1-855-503-SAFE (7233). The toll-free number allows anyone to report abuse of any child or adult to the Oregon Department of Human Services, 24 hours a day, seven days a week and every day of the year.
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KATU News included photographs of Armani to help the public identify and find him.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — President Donald Trump campaigned on carrying out what he called the largest deportation operation in American history.
After taking office, his administration quickly ramped up immigration enforcement. Border czar Tom Homan also pledged to focus on so-called sanctuary cities, including Portland. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, more than 675,000 people were deported in 2025, while the agency says more than 2 million people “self-deported.”
READ ALSO | Supreme Court hands Trump immigration wins, but birthright citizenship might be different
In Oregon, state data shows state and local agencies experienced a 265% increase in immigration-related requests from federal authorities last year.
So what does that mean for Oregon’s economy?
The state’s chief economist says the effects are beginning to emerge.
Carl Riccadonna, Oregon’s state economist, said immigration enforcement actions are influencing consumer spending and activity across several key industries, though the state cannot yet quantify the overall impact.
“What we’re seeing in terms of immigration action is playing out in either consumption patterns, which we’ve seen in some communities, or in industrial or sectoral activity,” Riccadonna said. “This does then have implications for how we are reading the overall macroeconomy and putting together that revenue forecast.”
Portland police officers walk outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Riccadonna said the effects extend beyond agriculture, an industry that has historically relied on immigrant labor.
“We have certainly, in sector-by-sector analysis, we’re hearing evidence of impacts from immigration in consumption numbers, so retail, groceries, those sorts of things,” Riccadonna said. “There are also significant impacts in the retail sector and leisure and hospitality, restaurants and construction, important legacy industries of Oregon like timber, forestry … and manufacturing has a very large footprint as well.”
While the state is seeing those trends, Riccadonna said economists cannot yet calculate exactly how much immigration enforcement has affected Oregon’s economy.
“We haven’t done an exercise to say, well, this is what the forecast would have been otherwise. We don’t produce counterfactuals … but there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence from the cherry harvest this past summer and stresses elsewhere throughout those specific sectors,” he said.
National data offers additional context.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the recent immigration surge — which the report says mostly comprises immigrants who were not lawful permanent residents, were not eligible to apply for lawful permanent residency based on their current status, and were not admitted on a temporary basis under the Immigration and Nationality Act — generated approximately $10 billion in state and local tax revenue in 2023. During that same period, governments spent nearly $19 billion on services such as schools, shelters and border security.
A damaged car is seen as law enforcement officials work the scene following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded people in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
The Congressional Budget Office also projects the immigration surge that began in 2023 will increase the U.S. labor force by approximately 5.8 million people by 2034 and boost the nation’s economic output by nearly $9 trillion over the next decade.
Riccadonna said Oregon expects to gain a clearer picture of the economic effects as more tax and revenue data becomes available.
This story is part of KATU’s “The Cost of the Crackdown” special, which examines how increased immigration enforcement is affecting Oregon, from businesses and workers to the state’s broader economy.
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