Federal Judge Blocks Marion County From Giving Immigration Records to ICE Under Oregon’s Sanctuary Law

A federal judge has overthrown a lawsuit filed by Marion County that asked whether county officials are allowed to follow federal immigration subpoenas under Oregon’s sanctuary law.

Tidings Context
Oregon has been a sanctuary state since 1987; HB 3265 in 2021 strengthened the rules requiring public bodies to decline and report immigration enforcement requests that lack a qualifying judicial subpoena.

The issue relates to subpoenas sent by the federal government to Marion, Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties.

Tidings Insight
Not every subpoena is a court order. Oregon DOJ says state and local agencies must deny and document immigration enforcement requests that lack a judicial order, even when they come in subpoena form.

The subpoenas requested personal information about immigrants who had been convicted of crimes.

The counties were informed that the information was required by federal immigration officials to locate and deport the individuals in question.
According to Marion County’s lawsuit, some of the crimes involved serious offenses, including rape, sexual abuse, kidnapping, and robbery.

While Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties refused to comply with the subpoenas, Marion County then requested that a court to clarify whether it was legally permitted to provide the information.

Oregon’s sanctuary law prohibits local law enforcement agencies from assisting federal authorities with civil immigration enforcement.

Tidings Insight
A qualifying judicial subpoena or warrant is signed by a judge and issued through a court. Oregon sanctuary law allows cooperation only with that kind of judicial order, not with administrative requests from immigration agencies.

However, the law does allow cooperation if federal officials first obtain a court-approved warrant or judicial order.

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