The Pendleton City Council heard a presentation from local activist Shaindel R. Beers, who proposed that the Council adopt the American Civil Liberties Union’s Nine Model State and Local Law Enforcement Policies and Rules. The nine model policies adapted for use in the City of Pendleton are as follows:
1: City of Pendleton officials shall require a judicial warrant prior to detaining an individual or in any manner prolonging the detention of an individual at the request of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection.
2: City of Pendleton officials shall not arrest, detain, or transport an individual solely on the basis of an immigration detainer or other administrative document issued by ICE or CBP, without a judicial warrant.
3: Unless acting pursuant to a court order or a legitimate law enforcement purpose that is unrelated to the enforcement of a civil immigration law, no City of Pendleton official shall permit ICE or CBP agents access to City of Pendleton facilities or any person in City of Pendleton custody for investigative interviews or other investigative purposes.
4: To the extent ICE or CBP has been granted access to City of Pendleton facilities, individuals with whom ICE or CBP engages will be notified that they are speaking with ICE or CBP, and ICE or CBP agents shall be required to wear duty jackets and make their badges visible at all times while in City of Pendleton facilities.
5: City of Pendleton officials shall not inquire into the immigration or citizenship status of an individual, except where the inquiry relates to a legitimate law enforcement purpose that is unrelated to the enforcement of a civil immigration law, or where required by state or federal law to verify eligibility for a benefit, service, or license conditioned on verification of certain status.
6: No City of Pendleton official shall voluntarily release personally identifiable data or information to ICE or CBP regarding an inmate’s custody status, release date or home address, or information that may be used to ascertain an individual’s religion, ethnicity or race, unless for a law enforcement purpose unrelated to the enforcement of a civil immigration law.
7: No City of Pendleton agency or official shall authorize or engage in the human or technological surveillance of a person or group based solely or primarily upon a person or group’s actual or perceived religion, ethnicity, race, or immigration status.
8: Any person who alleges a violation of this policy may file a written complaint for investigation with the State of Oregon.
9: No City of Pendleton official shall interrogate, arrest, detain or take other law enforcement action against an individual based upon that individual’s perceived race, national origin, religion, language, or immigration status, unless such personal characteristics have been included in timely, relevant, credible information from a reliable source, linking a specific individual to a particular criminal event/activity.
Beers is an English instructor at Blue Mountain Community College and says that she has undocumented students in her classes who currently feel unsafe. When asked by Mayor John Turner if she knew of anyone who had been arrested in Pendleton that may not have been arrested if the nine model policies had been in place, Beers said that she did not.
Beers says that she feels a “scared population is not a safe population.” She says that “if people are afraid of being detained because they are undocumented, they [won’t] seek help, or they [won’t] give help.” Further, she feels that “a scared population does not spend [their] money. People [undocumented immigrants] do things like keep their resources in case they’re going to be detained.”
She said that “several businesses” had signed a petition to show that they support the idea of Pendleton formally becoming a sanctuary city. She submitted the petition to the Council, but no count of signatures was given on the record.
When asked by Councilor McKennon McDonald if she knew of any other communities in Eastern Oregon that were sanctuary cities, Beers said that she knew of sanctuary cities in Western Oregon such as Eugene and Portland, but did not know if any communities in Eastern Oregon had declared themselves sanctuary cities.
Councilor John Brenne said that he was interested in implementing the ACLU’s policies, but noted that Oregon law already prohibits law enforcement agencies in the state from engaging in routine enforcement of federal immigration laws.
Pendleton Police Chief Roberts responded by saying that he does not “have strong feelings about the matter one way or the other” because Oregon law as well as department policy prohibits the behavior outlined in the model policies. Roberts said that the adoption of the model policies would not affect the way Pendleton Police conduct business like it would in other states, listing Arizona as an example. Arizona law requires law enforcement to check the immigration status of anyone that is suspected of violating immigration law. Roberts says that Oregon is the only state in the union that has a law on the books prohibiting law enforcement from participating in routine immigration enforcement.
Roberts stated that out of the nine policies proposed, the only policy that Pendleton Police do not currently follow is the requirement that ICE officers wear duty jackets and make their badges visible at all times when on City of Pendleton property. According to Roberts, if ICE Agents were to go to the Pendleton Police Department, a Pendleton Police officer would introduce the agent if the agent wished to talk to a person detained by the Pendleton Police. Roberts further explained that the detained person has the constitutionally protected right to refuse to speak to the agent.
Councilor Becky Marks said that the only policy which she didn’t like was the requirement that ICE officers wear their duty jackets and display their badges when on city property. Marks said that she “didn’t like the idea of pitting one law enforcement agency against another [law] enforcement agency.” Marks stated that she felt “sympathetic to the principle and concept [of adopting the nine model policies]” but said that she did not “see where becoming a sanctuary city would be a huge advantage” for Pendleton.
Councilor Scott Fairley said he did not see a downside to adopting the model policies. Councilor Neil Brown said that he did not see an upside. Fairley made a motion to adopt the nine model immigration policies but no one offered a second. The proposal was shelved.