Oregon
Oregon State Police sued for sharing data with immigration agencies
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek responds to heightened immigration enforcement
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and state legislators spoke Jan. 24 about recent immigration enforcement happening across Oregon. Here’s what Kotek said.
Rural Organizing Project, a statewide nonprofit based in Cottage Grove, filed a lawsuit May 5 against Oregon State Police in Multnomah County Circuit Court, alleging that the agency is violating the state’s landmark sanctuary laws and sharing Oregonians’ personal data with federal immigration agents.
The nonprofit is asking the court to direct OSP not to share information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other immigration agencies, including driver’s licenses, driver history, driver’s license photographs, vehicle registration data, Social Security numbers and law enforcement records.
ROP claims that federal immigration agencies have repeatedly accessed Oregonians’ information over the past year. They point to two systems OSP operates: the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System and the state’s Law Enforcement Data System.
The complaint said data provided to OSP by NLETS in February showed authorities involved in immigration enforcement accessed Oregonians’ data more than 1.4 million times in the preceding year. ICE alone queried Oregon for the data 176,576 times, the complaint said. Homeland Security Investigations within the Department of Homeland Security queried 21,363 times, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection and DHS accounted for the remainder, the complaint said.
Those numbers do not include all queries of Oregonians’ data, lawyers added, as ICE and HSI agents in Oregon will access the same information separately through the LEDS terminal.
The complaint says OSP has the technical capacity to block immigration enforcement agencies from both systems, but has declined to do so.
U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, and Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, along with U.S. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oregon, and Andrea Salinas, D-Oregon, called on states across the country to stop sharing drivers’ data with federal immigration agencies in a November 2025 letter.
Other states, such as Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New York, have stopped allowing federal agents to access their residents’ data, according to NLETS testimony to Congress in 2025, the complaint added.
The suit says NLETS provided OSP a spreadsheet listing the specific identification codes ICE uses in late 2025, after an OSP official asked how other states had blocked the agency in the system.
But in February, the complaint said, the agency indicated it would not restrict federal immigration authorities’ access to data via LETS or require federal authorities to use “Reason Codes” that would allow OSP to screen whether the query is for immigration-related purposes.
In a response sent to the Oregon Law Center on Feb. 1, replying to its tort claim notice, OSP said it had taken “reasonable steps” to improve its LEDS agreements with immigration authorities to require compliance with Oregon’s Sanctuary Law. Their letter said terminating the LEDS user agreements, which OSP signed with ICE and DHS in December 2025 and February, would prevent the federal agencies from accessing criminal justice information related to criminal investigations and other governmental purposes.
“If OSP terminated the user agreements, they could be obstructing ongoing criminal investigations,” the letter from OSP said.
OSP also said it did not have the ability to modify the NLETS system.
“Federal agents are storming into our communities, targeting people based on how they look, and disappearing our neighbors,” Martha Ortega, director of Immigrant Centers at Rural Organizing Project, said in a prepared statement. “Oregon State Police are helping them do it. When the state gives our private information to ICE, it is breaking the law and breaking Oregonians’ trust. How many families have been torn apart by Oregon State Police giving their names and photos to federal agents?”
The lawsuit cites testimony in federal court, detailed in a story by The Oregonian, where ICE agents spoke of staking out a neighborhood and randomly running vehicle license plates to find vehicle owners’ names and birthdates for the purpose of immigration enforcement.
“Oregon’s law has clearly prohibited this kind of information sharing for almost 40 years,” said Heather Marek, attorney at Oregon Law Center, which is representing the nonprofit. “Oregonians need Oregon State Police to respect the law and protect their data, immediately and permanently.”
In an email, a spokesperson for Oregon State Police said it would not be making any public comments related to the lawsuit while litigation was pending.
“OSP is committed to following Oregon Sanctuary Laws and has not taken any actions that would violate those laws,” Cpt. Kyle Kennedy added.
But, ROP said in its lawsuit that although the LEDS user agreements prohibit ICE-ERO and HSI from sharing data for immigration enforcement purposes, OSP cannot ensure compliance with the sanctuary laws nor can it reasonably assume compliance given the broader context of the current administration and activity.
More than 6,000 HSI agents have been assigned to immigration enforcement duties, for example, the lawsuit said.
“In the current political and legal context, an agreement to provide resources and information to HSI is an agreement to provide resources and information to support immigration enforcement,” the complaint said.
Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.com on X @DianneLugo or Bluesky @diannelugo.bsky.social.
Oregon
Oregon Lottery Powerball, Pick 4 results for July 6
The Oregon Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at July 6, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from July 6 drawing
17-44-63-66-67, Powerball: 04, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from July 6 drawing
1PM: 8-8-0-7
4PM: 4-2-9-2
7PM: 8-2-5-5
10PM: 7-7-2-2
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Win for Life numbers from July 6 drawing
18-28-41-70
Check Win for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Megabucks numbers from July 6 drawing
14-19-20-21-25-38
Check Megabucks payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Oregon Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 7:59 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 7:59 p.m. on Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 4: 1 p.m., 4 p.m., 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. daily.
- Win for Life: 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Megabucks: 7:29 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by an Oregon editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Oregon
Oregon’s Class Surges in Team Recruiting Rankings to No. 3
If you headed to the lake early last week, you missed the best fireworks. Dan Lanning and his staff put on a cup of coffee and closed like the Wolf of Wall Street. Minus the cocaine, probably.
All jokes aside, and believe me, these are jokes, the recruiting this staff is doing is not a joke. From June 28 to July 3, a span of 6 days Oregon added four new commitments and all were four stars or better. If you weren’t paying attention, Oregon landed 12 commits in the months of June and what we’ve had in July so far.
The recruiting class has surged from the teens to No. 9 to start last week to No. 3 overall by Friday afternoon. Only Texas A&M and Notre Dame have better recruiting classes according to Rivals. Oregon has the best class in the Big Ten conference.
The 24 commits sit at an average rating of 90.76 according to Rivals. Additionally 16 of the 24 commits are ranked four-stars or better and that includes the Ducks having a pair of 5-Star commitments. Oregon has 11 defensive commits, 11 offensive commits and 2 listed as athletes.
Up next is a commitment from four-star linebacker Brayton Feister set for Saturday, July 11. I don’t believe that addition will move Oregon up in the rankings but will strengthen their current position.
With five-star wide receiver Xavier Sabb committing, Oregon now has a commitment from 17 different states. Should Feister from Ohio pick the Ducks on Saturday, that would give Oregon an 18th state. The national reach of this program is as good as any school in the country.
Last year Oregon finished with the No. 4 ranked class in the nation. The 2025 class also finished at No. 4 nationally.
The early signing period for the 2027 class begins on December 4 and ends on December 6. The transfer portal window begins on January 2.
Oregon kicks off its 2026 season opener at home on September 5 vs Boise State.
Oregon
Former corrections officer sentenced in major Oregon poaching case spanning multiple counties
UMATILLA COUNTY, Ore. (KTVZ) — A yearslong investigation by the Oregon State Police (OSP), in addition to the Fish and Wildlife Division, has resulted in significant penalties for an Umatilla man accused of illegally killing wildlife across Oregon, in what prosecutors describe as one of the most damaging serial poaching cases tied to a single individual.
Christopher George Matson, 48, was sentenced in two separate cases in June following an investigation that began in 2024, when authorities received information he was unlawfully taking big game animals. Matson is a former Oregon Department of Corrections officer.
In February 2025, investigators served a search warrant and seized multiple big game animals and firearms as evidence. In total, 67 criminal charges were referred for prosecution, spanning multiple counties and including allegations such as unlawful take and possession of black bear with the aid of bait, unlawful take of buck deer and antlerless elk, and hunting during prohibited hours. Additional charges included falsely applying for tags, loaning or borrowing big game tags, and unlawful possession of silencers and a short-barreled rifle.
The case was prosecuted by the Oregon Department of Justice’s Wildlife Anti-Poaching Resource Prosecutor.
On June 18, 2026, Matson pleaded guilty in Grant County Circuit Court to seven counts, including unlawful take of buck deer and black bear. He was sentenced to 18 months of probation, a lifetime hunting license revocation, 300 hours of community service, forfeiture of firearms and seized property, and a $52,500 fine payable to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Less than two weeks later, on June 29, Matson pleaded guilty in Umatilla County Circuit Court to additional charges, including unlawful possession of a short-barreled rifle, unlawful possession of a silencer, unlawful possession of multiple wildlife, and unlawful take of mule deer. In that case, he was sentenced to 24 months of probation, a lifetime hunting ban, 300 hours of community service to run concurrently, forfeiture of property, and a $62,000 fine.
Combined, the penalties include probation, a lifetime revocation of hunting privileges, 300 hours of community service and more than $114,000 in fines.
“This is another example of serial poaching which rises to the level of felony conduct based solely on the repeated poaching conduct and impact of one individual on Oregon’s game mammals,” said Jay Hall, the Oregon Department of Justice’s Wildlife Anti-Poaching Resource Prosecutor. “The conduct across the several counties amounts to one of the highest damage amounts done to Oregon wildlife by any singular actor.”
Oregon State Police credited the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for assisting with interviews and evidence collection, along with multiple witnesses who came forward during the investigation.
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