Mayor Potter’s statement on arrests Tuesday (6/12) by immigration & customs enforcement officers

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“I am angered by this morning’s arrest by federal officers of approximately 150 Portland residents who were working at a local produce company.

“I certainly understand why federal officials executed criminal warrants against three individuals who stole and sold Social Security numbers. But to go after local workers who are here to support their families while filling the demands of local businesses for their labor is bad policy. It also serves as a reminder of the failure of our national leaders to deliver an immigration policy that is both fair and humane to families and acknowledges the economic realities of our country.

“Our nation would be better served if this kind of energy was focused on creating a comprehensive approach to immigration reform that provides a path to citizenship; addresses the immigration backlog that keeps families apart; and provides a safe and legal way for workers to enter our country and be productive workers and taxpayers. Immigrants provide more than mere labor in our community. They have long enriched our history, our culture and our city. My heart goes out to families dealing with the aftermath of this morning.

“In this morning’s raid, no Portland police officers participated, and our Crisis Response Team was activated to help families affected.”

Contact Form

In case anybody is wondering:

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City of Portland )

I , (name), do solemnly (affirm or swear) I will support the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Oregon; Charter of the City of Portland and its laws; I will faithfully, honestly and ethically perform my duties as (Mayor/Commissioner/Auditor); I have no undisclosed financial interest in any business located in Portland or having contracts with the City; I hold no other office or position of profit; and I am not a member of any partisan political committee (; so help me God).

Just keeps getting better.
Immigration raid pushes Oregon into thick of fight

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In the early months of this year, according to the affidavit, managers told the informant he could find phony identification on the streets of Woodburn. One manager eventually sold the informant a Social Security card, the government alleges.

A joint investigation by immigration and Social Security Administration agents found that during one stretch last year, American Staffing Resources had employed 596 workers. Only 48 of them had valid Social Security numbers, according to the affidavit.

Some workers have criminal records, face deportation warrants or have been deported previously, justice officials said.

Statement from Senator Gordly.

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Senator Gordly's statement on immigration raids

Senator Gordly spoke in support of Portland Mayor Tom Potter in a remonstrance on the Senate floor today, referring to the Mayor's statement on Tuesday's immigration raids.

Senator Gordly released the following statement:

"I join Mayor Potter in expressing absolute outrage about the immigration raid at a food processing plant in Portland on Tuesday.

"People doing hard work for minimum wage to support their families are not criminals, regardless of their immigration status. They are not a danger to anyone. You won't find criminals by looking among those who are washing, chopping and packaging lettuce. What you will find are the working poor, many of whom have fled grinding poverty and desperation to do this humble work.

"Law enforcement resources should be directed at apprehending and locking up criminals, those who are a danger to society.

"I question the use of valuable and limited resources by federal authorities to target these unfortunate workers and their families instead of addressing the real dangers posed by terrorism, smuggling and other threats to public safety.

"We need a federal policy that takes into account the productive work that these people are doing and that honors family relationships. We should not tolerate tearing families apart.

"The immigration laws of this nation need to be rewritten now, in this U.S. Congress.

"I thank Mayor Potter for speaking directly and forcefully about one of the most significant issues of our time." --Avel Gordly

Does anybody have a list of the optional laws in Portland we are not required to follow?

Love this, Just keeps going on.

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June 15, 2007


From the Office of Senator Avel Gordly

Contact: Sean Cruz, Chief of Staff (503) 986-1723 or reply to this email

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Constituent responses to Immigration statement

My office has received numerous responses to my previous statement in support of Mayor Tom Potter on the recent immigration raid in North Portland, both pro and con.

Many of those who wrote in opposition made exaggerated or erroneous claims, including lumping the lettuce choppers arrested in North Portland with the terrorists who hijacked airliners on September 11 and turned them into bombs.

Others did not understand that both Mayor Potter and I spoke against the misallocation of limited and costly law enforcement resources to make wholesale arrests of people trying to survive at the bottom of the wage-earning ladder instead of focusing on the hard-core criminal elements that pose real risks to public safety.

Many of the negative comments my office has received could have been (and were) used in previous anti-immigrant and race-based campaigns against Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, African and other populations.

The same level of hate has been leveled against African Americans since the founding of the nation, regardless of citizenship and the fact that they were brought here against their will and in chains, and against Native Americans, who have suffered loss and marginalization without cessation throughout our history.

It is a legacy of shame, and its inheritors are among us still.

Perhaps the saddest part of the hostile comments is the lack of compassion these writers feel for the poor among us, for what we are experiencing as an evolving nation is the migration of the poor.

Who among us would not migrate if we had to, in order to support our families, in order to survive? These are human beings, and they deserve a solution grounded in compassion. -Senator Avel Gordly June 15, 2007

I would love to post the letters, About 50 of them, All glowing positive support for Tom and Avel, Not a single negitive response. My response to her to follow.

Sean, Gordly,

Monday is here, cooler heads have settled and I was feeling pretty good about my letter I sent you Friday. Unfortunately, I left Gordly’s response up on my desktop for this morning and reread her second statement. I am truly baffled by her limited intellect on the issue and her obvious pandering.

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Many of those who wrote in opposition made exaggerated or erroneous claims, including lumping the lettuce choppers arrested in North Portland with the terrorists who hijacked airliners on September 11 and turned them into bombs

I don’t know who wrote this or even if it was even written. Could be a clever propaganga rhetoric to make the anti-illegal crowd seem like loons. But consider for the moment, Portland has the clear distinguishing rep of having convicted terrorist residing here. So let be absolutely clear on this, YOU do not have a CLUE what their intentions in the city were/are. YOU don’t have a clue what they’re prior criminal history is/was. YOU literally know nothing more then what is in the newspaper and let just say they lack a bit of intellectual honestly also.

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Others did not understand that both Mayor Potter and I spoke against the misallocation of limited and costly law enforcement resources to make wholesale arrests of people trying to survive at the bottom of the wage-earning ladder instead of focusing on the hard-core criminal elements that pose real risks to public safety.

This comment just drives me crazy. Since when has this state ever really cared about Law enforcement? You guys just whittle the police force down to glorified rent a cops and road side assistance personal. Maybe you really are the intellectually dishonest, you are in fact in politics’, but Immigration and Law Enforcement did exactly what they are mandated to do. They Arrested Criminals. Trespassing, ID thieving, Social Service thieving, Job Stealing, Tax evading Criminals. That is what I am certain they are guilty of, could be a whole lot more. So thank goodness SOMEONE is willing to do their job, of course I am not referring to you.

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Many of the negative comments my office has received could have been (and were) used in previous anti-immigrant and race-based campaigns against Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, African and other populations.

What a pile of BS. I do not care if they are Canadians. THEY ARE HERE ILLEGALLY. For you to portray this as a race based argument is simple the lowest denominator of Politics, Your Race baiting, Which I find to be more racist then the anti-illegal arguments. You again attempting to frame the anti-illegal crowd in a negative light. Your Political dogma is really shining through. Your equating illegal’s to race and slavery is pathetic and would think most reasonable people would see though propaganda.