U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement violated the intent of Oregon’s Sanctuary Law with its unauthorized entry into the lobby of the Lane County Jail on Oct. 15 to detain several individuals who were in the process of being released. The video of the incident was just released last week, and it underscores further issues with what took place.
As a criminal defense attorney, and the former director of Public Defender Services of Lane County, I am worried about the actions of ICE officials in our community, and how they make their arrests. I’m not disputing the legality of detaining, or even deporting people who don’t have legal status to be in our country.
But the process of how they go about their work is just as important as the results. When ICE invades our courthouse or our jail, it means undocumented people in our community are less likely to show up to court when they are subpoenaed as a witness, or when they are trying to gain relief as a victim of abuse or a criminal offense…