The U.S. government on Wednesday sued four Oregon counties, asking a judge to require the counties to provide information on 10 people convicted of crimes that immigration officials want to deport.
Homeland Security Investigations issued administrative subpoenas in July for information including home and work addresses for each of the people, but Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington and Marion counties declined to comply, according to the lawsuit.
Officials in Multnomah County said they were declining the request as required by the state’s sanctuary law, officials in Clackamas and Washington counites said they could only respond to subpoenas issued by a court, and Marion County officials are seeking court clarification on what they’re allowed to do, according to the lawsuit.
“Marion County already filed a lawsuit weeks ago seeking clarification on this issue,” County Counsel Steve Elzinga said in an email. “We look forward to a court decision.”
Clackamas County said it was not commenting on this pending litigation. Multnomah County said it does not comment on litigation.
Philip Bransford, communications officer for Washington County, said the county on July 31 was “served with administrative subpoenas from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement requesting records regarding individuals on court-ordered supervision by the Department of Community Corrections,” and the county declined to respond “consistent with Oregon’s Sanctuary Promise law.”
“As this matter is now the subject of a lawsuit against Washington County, we are not providing additional comments or details at this time,” he said in a brief statement.
Oregon became the first sanctuary state in the nation in 1987 and strengthened the law in 2021. The sanctuary law generally prohibits law enforcement cooperation with federal authorities for immigration enforcement.
The people subject to the administrative subpoenas have been convicted of sexual and assault crimes, according to the lawsuit. None of them are named.
Some of the crimes involve rape, child sexual abuse, manslaughter, assault and kidnapping, according to the lawsuit.
Government lawyers asked a federal court judge to enforce the administrative subpoenas. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Portland.
The lawsuit says Homeland Security Investigation agents were tasked with locating the people using their last-known or potential addresses between March and July. The agents, however, weren’t able to locate the 10 individuals.
Homeland Security Investigations, the lawsuit says, has determined that each of them is likely subject to immigration detention pending deportation.
Each subpoena seeks information such as the person’s home and employment addresses during their post-prison supervision period, place and date of birth, emergency contact, bail and criminal records, according to the lawsuit.
Marion County in August filed a federal lawsuit seeking guidance from the court over five immigration enforcement subpoenas. It wasn’t immediately clear if those administrative subpoenas are different than those outlined in this lawsuit.
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