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A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 10 July 2018

Groups mobilize against threat to Oregon’s ‘sanctuary’ law

By GILLIAN FLACCUS liams said.
Associated Press With help from anti-sanctu-
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — ary groups, a trio of Repub-
Opponents of an Oregon lican lawmakers from rural
ballot measure that would parts of the state sponsored
repeal the nation’s oldest the initiative to repeal the
statewide sanctuary law on law. A group behind the
Monday launched a coun- effort, Oregonians for Immi-
ter-campaign as elections gration Reform, has been
officials scrambled to cer- labeled an anti-immigrant
tify the tens of thousands hate group by the South-
of voter signatures required ern Poverty Law Center —
to place the issue on a No- a designation it is refuting.
vember ballot. Cynthia Kendoll, the
Oregon’s sanctuary law is group’s president, said in a
the oldest in the nation and phone interview Monday
one of only a handful of that because Oregon’s
similarly broad laws in the state Legislature is con-
U.S. — and a battle over its trolled by Democrats, a
future could draw the fa- voter initiative is the only
mously liberal state into the way to change immigra-
middle of the national im- tion law.
migration debate this fall. Kendoll’s group was in-
Joined by law enforce- volved in a 2014 ballot
ment officials, members of measure campaign that
a newly formed political In this June 25, 2018, file photo, an unidentified man holds a sign behind a makeshift wall at a successfully overturned a
action group called Or- protest camp on property outside the U.S. law passed by the Oregon
egonians United Against Associated Press lawmakers to give driver’s
Profiling held nearly simul- are validated. immigration status if they It was passed to address ra- licenses to immigrants in
taneous news conferences “We’ve decided to move haven’t committed an- cial profiling, Williams said, the country illegally.
in five cities Monday across ahead so that we have other crime and bans state and not to make a political “The only thing this initia-
Oregon to voice opposition the strongest coalition and local law enforcement statement about immigra- tive does is give the voters
to the proposed measure. possible,” said Andrea Wil- from coordinating with fed- tion. the opportunity to decide if
Backers of Initiative Peti- liams, executive director of eral immigration officials on “Oregon legislators said Oregon will be a sanctuary
tion 22 turned in more than Causa, an immigrant rights raids and roundups. that’s not the Oregon way state or not — and they ei-
105,000 voter signatures group. “If it were to pass . The law, which passed with and they also said it’s not a ther will or they won’t,” she
by a July 6 deadline; un- we believe that it would bipartisan support, grew good use of our resources. said, as she watched elec-
der state law, the mea- take Oregon back to a out of an episode in the It’s critical to remind voters tions workers checking sig-
sure’s sponsors must gather time when racial profiling town of Independence, this was passed for a real natures. “We’re working on
roughly 88,000 valid signa- was even more rampant where officers singled out reason in our state and if giving people the chance
tures by that date to get than it is today.” a group of Latino men in a we were to take it away, to vote on this. Voters very
it before voters. It may be The 1987 sanctuary law pro- restaurant and aggressively it would take us back to rarely have an opportunity
another two weeks or more hibits state agencies from interrogated them about a time when Oregonians to have a say in immigra-
before all the signatures inquiring about a person’s their citizenship status. weren’t treated fairly,” Wil- tion policy.”q

GOP senator warns against trusting Putin ‘mafia’

By LISA MASCARO sian Foreign Minister Sergey as part of a congressional
AP Congressional Corre- Lavrov as a “bully.” visit headed by Sen. Rich-
spondent “There is no political phi- ard Shelby, R-Alabama,
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. losophy in Russia. It’s sort of chairman of the Appropri-
senator who just returned like saying, what’s the po- ations Committee. The trip
from a congressional trip to litical philosophy of the ma- came ahead of a summit
Russia warned against trust- fia,” Kennedy told reporters between Trump and Putin
ing President Vladimir Putin, Monday on Capitol Hill. in Helsinki.
saying that dealing with the “Their philosophy is money The senators met with leg-
Russian government is like and power. That’s the phi- islative leaders of Russia’s
“dealing with the mafia.” losophy of Putin. He rules legislative body, but Ken-
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., with an iron hand. He’s a nedy said the most difficult
recently went with other dictator,” Kennedy said. session was with Lavrov. The
GOP senators to see first- He noted there’s “no free meeting, Kennedy said, got
hand the Russian economy press” in Russia and said off to a rocky start when
and meet with government there’s a vast gap in wealth In this June 18, 2018, file photo, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., listens the senator addressed him
officials. But the meetings, between the elites and or- during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. as ambassador rather than
ahead of President Donald dinary Russians. He said the Associated Press the expected title.
Trump’s planned summit Russian people “deserve ing privately with Putin, but nedy said. “I think the best “We didn’t call each other
with Putin on July 16, turned better.” said he doesn’t expect a we can do is try to contain an ‘ignorant slut’ or any-
“cantankerous” at times, The senator said he had no diplomatic breakthrough. him.” thing, but we exchanged
he said. He described Rus- problem with Trump meet- “You can’t trust Putin,” Ken- The senators were in Russia words,” the senator said.q