Sometimes a peek through a small window can reveal a vast sea change taking place across the wider landscape. Such was the case recently when an incident signaled that changes roiling the country elsewhere had arrived on our doorstep in bucolic Cottage Grove.
On Nov. 5, Juanita Avila, a local business owner, was pulled over and thrown onto the roadside by unidentified masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents before they discovered the green card in her pocket that she’d told them was there. In a later statement, the Cottage Grove Police Chief said that his department had been informed early that day by ICE that they would be in town, and that, in compliance with Oregon’s sanctuary law, no action was taken to assist them.
Neither were any officers dispatched to the scene when a bystander called to report that a kidnapping looked to be in progress. “Thanks for letting us know” was the reply the caller received as ICE continued to forcibly restrain a law-abiding member of our community under the guise of immigration enforcement, the same community that police had sworn to protect and serve…