Once again, Oregon is ahead of the curve in the fight against illegal immigration compared to California.
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:
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.)
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.
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."
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 …"
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."
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.
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.
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:
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.
you on a typical SPLC ["$PLC" here at VDARE.com] point-and-splutter page.
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.