In 2014, the Oregon state legislature passed a law permitting illegal aliens to obtain driver's licenses. Then the citizens fought back and promoted a referendum to stop it. Their initiative passed by two-thirds, even though 50% of the voters who ended up re-elected uber-leftist Jeff Merkley also voted to repeal drivers licenses for illegal aliens.
This year, 2018, Oregonians are fighting back against illegal immigration once again. This time, they are seeking to repeal the Sanctuary State provisions passed by the state legislature.
Check out this report from VDare.com:
Last Thursday and Friday, July 5th
and 6th, the stalwarts of Oregonians for Immigration Reform [OFIR]
submitted to their Secretary of State more than 110,000 signatures from
registered voters. Their aim: Qualify for November's ballot an initiative
IP 22 that would allow voters to repeal Oregon's statewide sanctuary policy
that heavily restricts cooperation between Oregon law enforcement and the
federal immigration agencies. (In late May, I reported on their
efforts here.)
It helps that Oregon is much smaller than California, and the signature threshold is lower.
As the number of signatures required was 88,184, OFIR
has likely succeeded in the signature-gathering phase of their
herculean task and must now embark on "making the sale" on IP 22 to
all of the state's voters. But the OFIR-ites won't be certain of
this first-step success until the Secretary of State has confirmed that enough
of the signatures gathered are valid.
The Secretary of State Dennis Richardson is a Republican, which helps. He was elected in contrast to the bigoted Labor Commissioner, who shut down "Sweet Cakes by Melissa" because they wouldn't bake a wedding cake for two lesbians.
Hopefully, the Colorado bakery case ruling handed down earlier this year will help their case against this egregious affront to their individual liberties.
On July 8th, I spoke by phone with
OFIR Communications Director (and founding President) Jim Ludwick, whom I have known for several
years. Jim, who is also a veteran of OFIR's triumphant 2013 - 2014 "NO on 88"
citizens'-veto campaign to nullify driver's cards for illegal aliens,
was most impressed with the urgency many of his late-responding fellow citizens
exhibited over getting their signatures in by the July 6th deadline.
"On the steps at the state capitol Friday we had state employees come out
to us to sign. We had truck drivers who were servicing the building
sign. We had state police sign," he said. "There
were people driving 60 miles each way to drop off one-line signature
sheets."
"I wish everyone could
see how frantic some registered voters were to get their signatures counted so
that IP 22 will get on the ballot," Jim added. "There's a sense
that ordinary folks are beginning to grasp what the future will be if we don't
push back effectively. They know this country is at a tipping
point. A lot of these people have been sitting on the sidelines,
intimidated about being called 'racist.' The usual ..."
Sometimes, it has to get that bad so that it can get better.
In California, Don Rosenberg and Ben Bergquam are putting together an initiative process to overturn the Sanctuary State law as well as end drivers licenses for illegal aliens, end the automatic voter-motor law, and require all jurisdictions in California to comply with federal law, including ICE detainers.
Indeed, there was active
intimidation that affected how voters' signatures were obtained. Jim
explained that more than 100,000 of the signatures OFIR collected were gathered
by volunteers with clipboards or by people downloading single-signature
petition forms from the web and mailing them in (or making a last-minute drive
to the capitol in Salem!). Meanwhile, fewer than 10,000 signatures
resulted from the work of paid signature-collectors because, Jim explained, the
best venue for that activity is metro Portland, "where it became
exceedingly nasty to collect signatures, especially for women."
Portland, Oregon is also the site of Rose City Antifa, which has routinely intimidated and threatened conservatives and free speech activists who meet in Portland, Oregon.
It's really sad how bad it's gotten in the largest city in the Beaver State. Left-wing protesters and bigots of all progressive leanings have routinely harassed the police department and the ICE office located in Portland, as well.
This is wrong, and the law enforcement officials in the region are not going to tolerate it any more.
Jim is quite optimistic that the
110,445 signatures OFIR submitted will yield the needed
88,184 valid signatures. That would require an 80-percent validity rate,
well below the 93-percent validity rate OFIR achieved in the
signature-gathering stage of 2014's "NO on 88" campaign.
Nevertheless, he and the others in OFIR's battle-tested crew must wait,
nervously, to hear from Secretary of State Dennis Richardson.
They will be fine. The residents of Oregon have one ally in Salem.
It's fortunate that they're
battle-tested, as Jim expects that "The other side is about to pull out
every dirty trick in the book." The dirty tricks will
presumably be the work of "Oregonians united against profiling,"
an umbrella organization established on July 6th, according to an email
forwarded to me. With their name presumably also announcing their
approach, we can expect a campaign of distortion along the lines of that in
2010 associated with Arizona's
SB 1070 law of phony "Papers, please!"-hysteria fame.
Of course. Things actually stand better for OFIR, since the Republican candidate stands a better chance of winning against the embattled Kate Brown (who also skipped the Portland gay pride parade this year). Buehler has rejected any bans on firearms, and he opposes the Sanctuary State Law. He should follow the same path that Governor Pete Wilson had done, but this time he should make sure that all initiatives are fully enforced and not give up the fight after one federal court battle.
It's hard to conjure a nexus between
racial profiling and anti-sanctuary policies, so "Ouap" already looks
like it's grasping at straws—on their "Get the
Facts" page, they trot out this indictment of OFIR and of the
Federation for American Immigration Reform:
Illegal immigration has nothing at all to do with race. An illegal alien with white skin set fire to massive forestries in Colorado earlier this year. That guy needs to be deported, then imprisoned in his home country.
The groups behind the effort to
throw out Oregon’s existing Sanctuary law are Oregonians for Immigration Reform
(OFIR) and the Federation of Immigration Reform (FAIR). Both groups have been
designated extremist hate groups by the
Southern Poverty Law Center.
Going to the link they provide lands
you on a typical SPLC ["$PLC" here at VDARE.com] point-and-splutter page.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has lost a massive lawsuit and will have to fork over $3 million to a reform-minded Muslim. More lawsuits are pending against this libelous hate group. FAIR and OFIR have nothing to fear from the "hate card" or the "race card", which sanctuary state proponents will use to full effect.
Meanwhile, assuming the
signature-gathering campaign has succeeded, IP 22 will apparently be the only
statewide immigration-related ballot measure in the country this fall.
Immigration patriots nationwide can keep tabs on the campaign via
OFIR's website and the related Stop Oregon Sanctuaries news page.
Final Reflection
I will do everything I can to help Oregonians end the terrible sanctuary state law in their state. This is a big development, and one most likely to ensure that Republicans have some kind of a chance at regaining power in Salem.
Oregon has seen a massive population boom over the last four years. I have family in the Central Oregon area, and the city has gone from a semi-rural hideaway to a bustling suburban center. Two months ago, I went to Medford Oregon, and the construction developing all over the area is quite impressive. One of the main airports is located in Medford, so that makes a difference, too, but lots o people are moving to Oregon for the lower cost of living and the cheaper housing market.
Will this in-state migration blunt immigration enforcers' efforts to stop sanctuary state? I doubt it, since a fundamental sense of boundaries and fairness governing many people's views on illegal immigration, regardless of their political affiliation.
