AFSC staff and allies outside the Oregon State Capitol.
Everyone deserves to live in safety and with dignity. But in Oregon -- as in many states across the U.S. – ICE agents are assaulting people and terrorizing communities. In response, AFSC Oregon Project Voice and our partners are organizing, advocating, and winning. The Oregon Legislature recently adjourned after passing a dozen new laws that will make a real difference for all Oregonians.
Oregon Project Voice supported these legislative efforts by attending several lobby days. More importantly, AFSC has trained hundreds of community members and allies to serve as Human Rights Observers (HROs). They have responded to incidents where community members were assaulted by ICE.
These trained HROs reported these assaults and kidnappings, which led directly to the calls for action to our legislators for these protections. If our partners hadn’t documented and reported these assaults to the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition, they would have gone “under the radar.” Instead, their work made a real difference.
According to the Salem Statesman Journal, Oregon’s new laws include:
- Requiring notice when federal immigration authorities enter public schools and colleges.
- Enhancing Oregon’s anti-profiling law by rendering immigration status as inadmissible in civil proceedings.
- Making it easier to sue out-of-state law enforcement agents who illegally enter private property.
- Protecting tenant information.
- Requiring all law enforcement officers to display their name or badge number and agency information and restricting face coverings.
- Protecting everyone’s access to health care by adding immigration status to the list of protected health information.
- Barring public bodies from selling personal information to data brokers.
- Ensuring that the Oregon Office of Immigrant and Refugee Advancement has a formal role in policy development.
"This is a big win for immigrants and a huge setback for ICE agents who have terrorized our communities,” said AFSC’s Pedro Sosa, Oregon Voice Program Director. “Requiring ICE agents to identify themselves and prohibiting the use of masks is a major achievement at the state level. Our community will now feel safer and more confident.”
AFSC’s Pedro Sosa (second row, far left) joins allies in lobbying for immigrant rights in Oregon.
The Oregon Legislature also approved $8 million more from the general fund for the state’s universal representation program. The additional funding is included in one of the session’s budget bills. $5.6 million is specifically provided for the Universal Representation Fund and $2.4 million for the Oregon State Bar for immigration legal services. Another $2 million was directed to the Department of Human Services for refugee assistance.
Lawmakers heard from advocates and a Keizer wildland firefighter who was detained in Washington State in 2025. Advocates requested a $10 million investment in the program, which saw a 4,000% increase in demand and was at risk of exhausted funding. Isa Peña, director of strategy at Innovation Law Lab, said more than 21,000 Oregonians have enrolled in the program, known as Equity Corps of Oregon.
Advocates didn’t win everything as two other bills died in committee. One bill would have required companies to commit not to help transport people for deportation before contracting with the state or receiving state grants. Another would have asked Oregon voters to approve a constitutional amendment establishing the right to be free from “secret police.”
All in all, Immigrant Justice Package will make Oregon a safer and more just place for all its residents.
