Portland Moves to Protect Sanctuary Status and Bar City Police From Federal Cooperation
Portland city councilors proposed a sweeping directive in a resolution that includes measures to address the deployment of federal troops to the city that President Trump claims is a war zone, despite conditions on the ground showing otherwise.
The resolution, co-sponsored by Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney, and Councilors Olivia Clark, Candace Avalos, and Tiffany Koyama Lane, proposes that the Mayor:
- Establishes and implements the Protect Portland Initiative as the City’s coordinated framework to coordinate the City’s response to threats of federal overreach, militarization, and unconstitutional excessive use of force.
- Protect Portlanders’ constitutional rights—especially the rights to privacy, free speech, assembly, and protest—against federal militarization, including:
- Publicly demanding that the USUS President and relevant federal agencies stand down from any deployment of the USUS Armed Forces, National Guard, or militarized immigration or crowd-control operations in Portland, and
- Prohibiting city workers and law enforcement, including the Portland Police Bureau (PPB), from assisting federal agencies and the military in actions intended to suppress lawful protest, peaceful assembly, or protected political expression.
- Establish the Protect Portland Initiative, which requires, among other things, PPB officers to log each interaction with individuals engaging in immigration actions who appear to act as federal law enforcement agents in a centralized record, including the names, badge numbers, purpose, and location of each encounter.
- Ensure that the PPB remains a locally controlled law enforcement agency, not subject to deputization by federal agencies or the military.
- Reaffirms Portland’s Sanctuary City status and ensures that no City resources are used for immigration enforcement, except where required by law.
The resolution is tabled for discussion at a Portland City Council Meeting on Wednesday evening.