West
Oregon Dems block effort to alert ICE before illegal immigrant murderers are released
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Oregon Senate Democrats unanimously voted to kill an effort to require that federal authorities be notified when an illegal immigrant convicted of a violent felony is about to be released from prison, leading the chamber’s top Republican to say the majority is choosing ideology over common sense.
In Oregon’s legislature, the minority caucus is permitted to file an alternative “minority report” to a majority party-led bill, which would then replace the majority’s legislation before it heads to the governor as a “last-ditch” effort to amend or stop a proposal, according to a source familiar with Salem’s processes.
This particular minority report would have directed state officials to notify federal authorities when an illegal immigrant convicted of a violent felony, such as murder, was about to be released. That would give ICE an opportunity to transfer the person to its custody without the kind of expansive resource deployment seen in some uncooperative blue cities.
The Oregon State Senate voted down the minority report for Senate Bill 1594, 18-12, along party lines, with one lawmaker excused, as Republicans warned of the tally’s public safety consequences.
ICE agents deploy measures in Portland, Ore., in February 2026. (Sean Bascom/Getty Images)
The original and active SB 1594 would require Oregon’s Justice Department to consult with the state Office of Immigration and Refugee Advancement on updated “model policies” at immigration facilities.
State Sen. Mark Meek, D-Oregon City, who is considered a moderate, defended his vote on the floor in Salem by saying that ICE should instead “sit outside” state prisons because recapturing subjects would be like “fishing in a pond; in a barrel.”
“If the federal government wants to be serious about taking care of that business, then that’s the place you should be,” Meek said.
Critics of that view said it would run counter to the left’s tendency to protest broad ICE operations in certain localities.
DEM GOVERNOR’S ‘DANGEROUS’ ANTI-ICE LAW IGNITES BACKLASH AFTER ALLEGED BOX CUTTER ATTACK BY ILLEGAL ALIEN
Oregon’s corrections department previously tracked the immigration status of those convicted of felonies but has not run a check since 2022, after a 2021 bill restricted the tracking of whether an inmate has an ICE detainer, according to a source familiar with the matter.
“The vote runs contrary to the clear will of Oregonians and Americans across party lines, who overwhelmingly support the removal of illegal immigrants convicted of violent or serious crimes across multiple reputable polls,” the minority caucus said in a statement on the minority report’s failure.
State Senate Minority Leader Bruce Starr, R-Dundee, called the bill “as common sense as common sense gets.”
“Do we want violent felons who have no legal right to be present in Oregon to remain here, or should there at least be an opportunity for federal authorities to take custody?”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“The effect of voting ‘no’ today is to affirm that a person who is here illegally and commits a felony in Oregon should remain here as the felon is released from prison,” added state Sen. Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte.
Fox News Digital reached out to Oregon Senate President Robert Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, and Senate Majority Leader Kayse Jama, D-East Portland, for comment.
Related Article
Read the full article from Here
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Other than brush, overgrown grass, some birds singing in the distance, and perhaps a gust of wind coming in, there’s really not much going on in Honouliuli Gulch these days.
More than 80 years ago, it was a different story.
Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a hasty prisoner of war compound was built in this barren area of Oahu and named the Honouliuli Internment Camp.
Some of the Japanese Americans who were imprisoned here had another name for this place: “Jigoku dani,” or “Hell Valley.”
“There is a reason why the Japanese Americans nicknamed it Hell’s Valley. It’s a very rugged environment. It’s deep in the gulf to the valley,” said Christine Ogura, superintendent of the Honouliuli National Historic Site.
Now, for the first time, the public will be able to understand the “hell” internees experienced through guided tours into what is now known as the Honouliuli National Historic Site.
“You’re going to have an opportunity to actually walk original historic roads that people who were incarcerated there, their family members walked as well,” Ogura said. “Even though the camp was closed and we don’t have any original structures left, because when the military closed in 1946, they actually took everything down. But we do still have original, like the concrete slab foundation of the mess hall, where families were able to reunite with their mothers and their fathers during visitation.”
The internment camp opened in 1943 and was the largest and longest-used incarceration site in the islands. At its peak, Honouliuli held over 4,000 prisoners of war from Italy, Taiwan, Korea, Philippines and had the largest contingent made up of Japanese Americans.
For Superintendent Ogura, what happened here is personal since she is a second-generation American of Japanese ancestry.
“When I found out that this happened here and being Nisei myself and my parents are Issei, I reflected: had I been born a generation earlier it could have been me and my mom,” she said. “I think locally it’s an important history to conserve and perpetuate because it is important that our communities know that this happened locally.”
Tours at the Honouliuli National Historic Site will begin on July 18, and demand has been overwhelming with every tour fully booked and waitlists in the hundreds.
“I will say the response has been humbling when we released the dates. It booked up within 25 minutes and we currently have a waiting list of over 1,700 people,” Ogura said.
The park is working toward more availabilities for next year.
Officials are looking for volunteer docents to help expand tour capacity.
Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — A simmering dispute between Idaho’s top elections official and the U.S. Department of Justice escalated this month after federal officials warned Secretary of State Phil McGrane about possible prosecution tied to non-citizens voting in Idaho.
The Justice Department sent a letter earlier this month threatening McGrane with prosecution. The warning came amid a broader conflict between the Trump administration and McGrane, whom the administration has sued over his refusal to provide unredacted voter rolls to the federal government.
Idaho’s chief of civil litigation, James Craig, responded on July 10. In a letter first reported by the Idaho Statesman, Craig pushed back on the federal warning, writing, “Insinuations of criminal violations of the federal election laws are not well taken,” and asking the department to “stop threatening your friends in Idaho.”
Craig also requested that the lawsuit against McGrane be dismissed and criticized the Justice Department for sending its letter directly to McGrane rather than to the Idaho attorney general’s office.
The attorney general’s office said the state has already referred 15 cases of possible non-citizen election violations to the Justice Department but is not aware of any of them being prosecuted. Craig’s letter ends by asking the department to do so.
HEBGEN LAKE, Mont. — A man was rescued after nearly drowning while swimming in Rainbow Point, located 10 miles north of West Yellowstone.
The Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office, along with Hebgen Basin Rural EMS personnel and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, responded to reports of a swimmer in distress.
Officials say bystanders saw a man become unresponsive while swimming roughly 100 yards off the shoreline.
They, along with a boating group, located the man, pulled him out of the water, and performed life-saving measures until first responders arrived.
The man was airlifted to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. Officials say he is in critical condition.
The Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office released the following information:
-
Delaware2 minutes agoHeat watches, advisories issued for Delaware. How hot will it get?
-
Florida8 minutes agoSouth Florida scientists studying newborn sea turtles
-
Georgia14 minutes agoGeorgia twins launch 3D-printed toy business
-
Hawaii20 minutes agoGuided tours take visitors into Honouliuli internment camp’s ‘Hell Valley’
-
Idaho26 minutes agoIdaho attorneys rebuff DOJ threat to prosecute Secretary of State in voter roll dispute
-
Illinois32 minutes ago8 Most Charming Town Squares In Illinois
-
Indiana38 minutes agoACLU of Indiana sues over conditions at Monroe County Jail
-
Iowa44 minutes agoNorthwest Iowa woman taken to the hospital after rollover
