PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — Portland Mayor Keith Wilson and Councilor Steve Novick have announced they will each use $10,000 from their office funds to help the city of Newport cover legal expenses in a lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Other cities have also contributed to the fund. The city of Newport said it has raised $50,000 in contributions from other municipalities, including Ashland, Yachats, Depoe Bay and Benton County, to cover legal fees. The effort comes after Newport Mayor Jan Kaplan issued a notice a couple of months ago asking for financial contributions to the legal battle.
The money contributed by cities will mostly go toward replenishing Newport’s emergency fund. The city used roughly $375,000 from the fund to cover legal costs in its challenge against ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, which it filed in December after various indicators suggested the federal government planned to build a detention facility in the coastal town. The lawsuit sought to stop those efforts…