Attorneys United for a Secure America (AUSA), a project of the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the City of Cottage Grove, Oregon, and its police department, both of which are being sued by activist plaintiffs to enforce an Oregon law called the “Sanctuary Promise Act,” which bans local law enforcement from cooperating with federal government in immigration law enforcement.

In filing the brief, AUSA represents Advocates for Victims of Illegal Alien Crime (AVIAC). AUSA’s brief points out that Oregon’s anti-cooperation law is preempted by a federal law granting local officials the right to cooperate in federal immigration law enforcement; that the alleged harm of eroding the illegal alien community’s trust of the police is too speculative to support the requests preliminary injunction; and that Oregon’s anti-cooperation law, by working to keep criminal aliens in the country, has devastating effects on these criminal aliens’ subsequent victims.

“It is hard to fathom why any state would want to endanger its citizens and legal permanent residents by protecting people who entered the United States illegally and then commit additional crimes,” said Don Rosenberg, president of AVIAC. “Look at the criminal record of any illegal alien who has killed someone, and you will always see they had prior arrests and convictions for other crimes. The Sanctuary Promise Act is nothing more than a promise made by Oregonian authorities that law-abiding Oregonians will become victims of criminal illegal aliens.”

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

“It is axiomatic that the protection of public safety is a core governmental function,” said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. “With this anti-cooperation law, Oregon nevertheless hopes to prevent as many criminal alien deportations as possible. We hope the court sees this law as the disaster that it is, and does not construe it to block the public-spirited official of Cottage Grove from exercising their federal right to cooperate with immigration officials to protect their community.”

The case is Rural Organizing Project v. The City of Cottage Grove__, No. 23CV07691 (Ore. Lane Circuit Court).


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2023-05-09 00:47:48

Last Update: 2023-05-09 01:37:17