Elizabeth O’Neal, an IRS employee, attends a town hall held by Oregon Democratic legislators at the Federal Building in Portland, Ore., March 17, 2025. The event aimed to provide an opportunity for federal employees to talk about the impact of layoffs in the federal government.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Current and former federal staffers joined Oregon Democrats in a town hall in Portland on Monday, saying President Donald Trump’s efforts to shrink the federal government presents risks to Oregon life, potentially harming how the state responds to wildfires, preserves its natural resources and cares for veterans.
Dozens of attendees packed into the cafeteria of a federal building in Northeast Portland, filling up rows of seats and standing around the edges of the room. Many focused their ire on the mass firings by Trump and his billionaire partner, Elon Musk, who leads the administration’s cost-cutting initiative called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Shawn McMurtrey, a disabled combat veteran who was recently fired from his job in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, speaks to legislators during a town hall in Portland, Ore., March 17, 2025.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
“This is not the America I swore an oath to protect,” said Shawn McMurtrey, a disabled combat veteran who served in the U.S. Army in Iraq and Afghanistan and was recently fired from his job in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Monday’s was the latest in a series of packed town halls that have occurred across Oregon since Trump’s second term began less than two months ago. In that time, firings have hit regional employers like the U.S. Forest Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Bonneville Power Administration — agencies that impact Oregonians’ lives, maintaining public lands, predicting the weather and keeping residents’ lights on.
“We have a department in the federal government now that is supposed to be concerned with efficiency, and government efficiency, but from what I’ve seen it’s more of an agency of chaos,” said Craig Ackerman, the former superintendent of Crater Lake National Park, Ywho retired in October and moderated the town hall.
Six of Oregon’s eight members of congress attended Monday’s town hall, and so did Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield. Newly-elected U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum had a previous commitment and did not attend.
In recent weeks, members of the delegation have faced pushback from town hall attendees who have accused the national Democratic party of being slow and disunified in its response to Trump’s barrage of new policies.
“I can feel the anger. I can feel the frustration,” said U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter. “I know we are not giving answers that are satisfactory.”
Republicans like U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, who represents much of rural eastern and southern Oregon, say the cuts are necessary to shrink government spending and eliminate national debt. Bentz was not invited to attend the town hall.
Oregon Democrats say the administration is cutting jobs that are critical to the lives and safety of Oregonians.
(Left to right) Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkely and Ron Wyden, U.S. Reps. Val Hoyle, Andrea Salinas and Suzanne Bonamici, during a town hall held at the Federal Building in Portland, Ore., March 17, 2025. The event aimed to provide an opportunity for federal employees to talk about the impact of layoffs in the federal government.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
“It is as clear as Crater Lake that Trump and Musk and their cronies are indiscriminately attacking your ability to serve publicly and are illegally firing many of you,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, the senior member of Oregon’s congressional delegation, who emphasized the importance of federal employees blowing the whistle when they see the government acting illegally.
Among those fired was McMurtrey. As a government scientist, his job was to help prevent fungal diseases from killing pears in Oregon, the nation’s second leading producer of pears. McMurtrey said his government salary wasn’t enough to afford to live where he worked, in Hood River, forcing him to sometimes sleep in a lab or his car when he’d commute to work from Portland.
“It is partially thanks to this research that you can buy pears all year round at the grocery store,” said McMurtrey, speaking from a table at the front of the room. He added, “I am not a waste of money.”
Federal workers – some of whom remain employed – said Monday that the mass firings have upended their lives, impacting their retirements, health insurance, loan payments and their future aspirations of public service jobs. Some voiced concerns of being retaliated against for speaking publicly. Others carried signs that said “S.O.S Save Our Services” and “Stop the war on America’s workforce.”
Belle Zaccari of Portland asks pointed questions of Oregon legislators during a town hall at the Federal Building in Portland, Ore., March 17, 2025. Zaccari, a clinical psychologist who has worked more than 10 years as a clinical psychologist for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, said she has more than $300,000 in student loan debt.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Belle Zaccari, a clinical psychologist who has worked more than 10 years as a clinical psychologist for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, said she has more than $300,000 in student loan debt. She added, “This is true for many people in this room.” She says veterans with chronic pain are not being served because of Trump’s previous executive orders.
“I came into the field of psychology to serve veterans, and I’m here. I get to actualize that dream,” said Zaccari. “And in this administration I see that threatened every single day. If I am to lose my job during this administration I don’t know that I’ll come back.”
Much of the battle over Trump’s efforts will be fought in court with Democratic attorneys general like Oregon’s Dan Rayfield, who attended Monday’s event. Rayfield, who has already sued the Trump administration eight times, alleges the mass firings are a result of decisions happening in “smoke-filled rooms without the public process.”
“Part of our jobs as attorneys general is to make sure the Trump administration is following the rule of law, making sure he’s following the constitution, and when he and his billionaire friends are not, we will hold them accountable in a court of law,” Rayfield said.
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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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