Salem divided over whether Oregon should facilitate ICE transfers in state prisons

PORTLAND, Ore. — There’s renewed debate in Salem over whether the state should cooperate with immigration authorities in cases where federal forces are trying to deport people who have finished sentences in state prisons, after Democrats voted down a Republican effort requiring the state to do so.

Republicans shared 2022 DOC data showing nearly 600 of the roughly 12,000 individuals in Oregon Dept. of Corrections (DOC) custody at the time had an active Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer—a request from ICE to turn over an individual before releasing them.

The state currently does not track citizenship status; KATU requested the current number of active ICE detainers on individuals in DOC custody and awaiting the updated number.

The specific question is whether ICE agents should be allowed to arrest an undocumented migrant inside the prison, once their sentence is over, or in the community after they’ve been released.

States like Minnesota and California allow it. In California’s case, the state contacts ICE 10 to 15 days before an individual is released. If ICE agents decide to take custody of the individual, the transfer happens inside a state facility.

California’s data shows that scenario is played out hundreds of time per year.

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Currently, Oregon law does not allow ICE agents inside prisons or permit the state to coordinate pick-ups with ICE inside the facility.

KATU spoke to an Oregon Republican and an Oregon Democrat about the topic.

“It’s not fair to the average Oregon citizen that works here and pays taxes and then doesn’t feel safe in their own state due to our immigration policies,” Republican Rep. Alek Skarlatos said.

“I think before we get to that, we have to build a trust with the federal government and our federal law enforcement,” Democratic Rep. Ricki Ruiz said.

Republican Skarlatos said that while he wants greater cooperation, he’d vote for a bill limiting that cooperation to people convicted of murder and rape.

“You have to make a choice who you’re siding with here: the population of Oregon or illegal heinous criminals, just that group, we’re not even lumping all the illegal immigrants into the same category here,” Skarlatos said.

Ruiz, like many Democrats, is not supportive at the moment of expanded cooperation. He argued for longer detention of people convicted of crimes like rape and murder.

“I’m going to believe if someone breaks the law in the United States, they ought to be held to the extent of the law of the United States, and if there’s a murderer coming out who’s already been convicted of murder or rape and coming out on parole, then we have a problem, and we have to fix it as soon as possible,” Ruiz said.

Recent Pew polling shows the vast majority of Americans support deporting individuals convicted of violent crimes. Republicans argue that shows support for expanded cooperation with ICE.

Ruiz argued the high-profile arrests of American citizens and children and families seeking asylum undercut the argument for cooperating with ICE.

“Say someone is convicted of a crime and they get a 15-year sentence. When that sentence is up and they have a civil deportation process requested against them, should they be handed over to ICE or should they be released and then arrested at some point in the future by ICE?” KATU asked Ruiz.

“I think that requires a very lengthy conversation. My hesitation, I think if you were asking me this question a couple years ago, I’d give you a different answer. But I think now with the tactics that I’ve seen, that’s our government using, I definitely have a lot of red flags,” Ruiz said.

He continued, “But at this moment in time, I’m just, there’s a lot of red flags with how they were operating, and I hope there’s a time and place in where we can have a conversation on accountability and how we can continue to build that trust moving forward.”

“One concern we’ve heard from Democrats is that we’ve seen ICE arrest the wrong people in certain cases. There have been a handful of cases where they’ve arrested American citizens, and there have been very public uses of force that make people uncomfortable. If people see that and are concerned about cooperating with an agency like that, what is your argument to support cooperation there?” KATU asked Skarlatos.

“Again, that’s exactly why we should be allowing ICE into our jail and prisons to arrest people there, so there’s not these violent confrontations. I mean, to me it’s an easy answer there. The more you cooperate, the less likely there is to be an incident like that,” Skarlatos said.

He continued, saying, “I understand we don’t like ICE in the state of Oregon for whatever reason, but I don’t think that’s a reason to allow murders and rapists on the streets with regular Oregon citizens.”