City Club debate on Measure 105 shows wisdom of voting "No"

I've already voted NO on Measure 105, which would overturn Oregon's successful sanctuary state law that prevents law enforcement agencies from using state resources to detect or apprehend people whose only violation is federal immigration law.

Nothing I heard at today's Salem City Club debate on Measure 105 made me question in the slightest how I voted. 


The debate was between Cynthia Kendoll (on the left) and Andrea Williams (on the right). Kendoll is president of Oregonians for Immigration Reform. Williams is executive director of CAUSA, Oregon's statewide immigration rights organization.

Williams' expression as Kendoll was speaking mirrored how I felt about Kendoll's exceedingly weak argument for voting Yes on Measure 105. Basically, Kendoll said that laws have to be followed; immigrants who are here illegally are breaking the law; so Oregon law enforcement agencies should help federal ICE agents find them so they can be deported.

On the other hand, Williams pointed out sound reasons to vote No. 

She talked about examples of racial profiling that occurred in Oregon prior to the passage of our sanctuary state law. Williams also said that without that law, undocumented immigrants would be wary of contacting the police or testifying in an investigation. 

There was some back-and-forth about whether undocumented immigrants commit more or fewer crimes than the general population. Studies show that "fewer" is the correct answer. (See here and here.)

So Kendoll was wrong when she tried to argue that Measure 105 would make Oregonians safer. She vainly tired to claim that undocumented immigrants engage in more lawbreaking than documented immigrants.

But as a City Club member pointed out in the course of asking a question, it makes sense that people who can't get a drivers license (for example), yet need to drive to get to work, will have more "driving without a license" citations than those who can get a license. 

In other words, illegality most often is a case of this country's broken immigration laws, which don't allow law-abiding, hard-working undocumented immigrants to apply for legal status.

Not surprisingly, I felt that a question I asked of Cynthia Kendoll was brilliant.

It came to me while I was staring at a slide that was left on a screen for most of the debate to summarize the core difference between voting yes or no on Measure 105. I began to wonder about substituting a different word in the bottom line for "immigration."

Like, "marijuana." So this is how my question went to Kendoll, as best I can recall:

Along with others in the audience, I'm a federal lawbreaker, since I use marijuana, and it's illegal under federal law. So I'm wondering if you'd be in favor of local and state law enforcement agencies here in Oregon working with federal agents to arrest people who are using marijuana -- even though it is legal in this state. Conservatives like you usually are in favor of state's rights. But since you favor using state resources to enforce federal immigration law, are you in favor of also using state resources to enforce the federal marijuana law?

Kendoll's answer was so lame, and so unresponsive to my question, I can barely remember what it was. It had something to do with federal immigration law catching criminals, I think. But every marijuana user in Oregon also is a criminal in the eye of federal law enforcement, so this response made little or no sense.

This just shows the hypocrisy of conservatives. They're all for states rights when it comes to gerrymandering, restricting the right to vote, and limiting access to abortions, but on immigration policy and sanctuary state laws, they're all in for federal control. 

Bottom line: vote NO on Measure 105.

 

Comments

[Spence Tepper]

Hi Brian
Your post says it all. You have the problem of America right there, embodied in Kendell.

I've given up on Democracy.

Politicians have to dumb down their message so far to reach the level of the voting population, that the act itself requires a level of corruption.

Trump's election did it, and the subsequent normalizing of racism, sexual molestation, corporate theft and a host of other things that only a few years ago were considered wrong.

When I think of the people who voted for him and support his policies and still manage to go to church on Sunday, I understand why the human race may not last too long here.

Why are they even going to church and using Jesus ' name? What's the point?

Jesus said to shelter and feed the homeless and hungry stranger, and in Leviticus it says we should treat the foreigner living among us as ourselves. That is without regard to their beliefs.

Of course the Bible says a lot of other horrifying things too.

But my point is I'm now convinced that human beings don't really have enough vision and morality to adapt and to help one another, and we'll either kill ourselves off in war, avarice or environmental appocolypse.

And I think I'm beginning to realize the inevitability of this, and make peace with it.

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
-Robert Frost

[Sharon]

I think your ad for Sheleswau (Strange Up Salem) is going to hurt her. Please do not turn her campaign into a racial fight. She is an awesome candidate. Your write up was great except for the first paragraph. It just seeks to divide and inflame instead of bringing people together for the common good of a great candidate. Page posts are public, they go out to everyone. It showed poor judgment on your part and editing it won't fix it because the controversy is still in the comments. You may just sink her campaign in the final days if just the "right jerk" sees your ad and decides to blow it up.

When I've talked to Shelaswau and watched her campaign she never speaks using inflammatory language or race-baiting terms. Please don't represent or "support" her in this way. Please take your ad down. We need Shelaswau to win. Thanks.
PS: I enjoy your musings, we agree on a lot.

[Brian Hines]

Sharon, here's some thoughts about your comment.

(1) I'm not part of the Crier campaign. When I write a political post on Facebook I share how I feel about a candidate. What i said about Crier struck me as absolutely true when I wrote it, and I still feel that way Here's what I said:

"VOTE FOR SHELASWAU CRIER. Currently the Marion County Board of Commissioners is made up of three white conservatives. Crier, a Salem resident, is a woman of color, a Yale Law School graduate, and a passionate advocate for family wage jobs, affordable housing, and quality health care. She will bring a much-needed fresh perspective to the Board of Commissioners."

(2) That Facebook post has reached 5,134 people so far. It has 845 "engagements." (I believe this is comments, shares, clicks on the link to Crier's web site.) I'm pleased with that.

(3) I ran an ad for Jackie Leung last year when she ran a similar underdog campaign against Steve McCoid in the Ward 4 City Council race. I'm pretty sure that i mentioned she would be the first woman of color on the current City Council. She won in a surprising upset against McCoid. Speaking truth to power never hurts.

(4) Most mentions in newspapers of Stacey Abrams, who is a Democrat running for Georgia governor, point out that she would be the first black female governor in the United States. They're reporting a fact. My Facebook post similarly reported a fact, plus my opinion that Crier would be a great Marion County Commissioner.

(5) I realize that we live in a time of political correctness and racial tensions. But i believe these trends should be met head-on, not shirked. Crier would, to my knowledge, be the first black woman elected as a Marion County Commissioner. I think this would be great. And I said so in my Facebook post, which I stand by completely.

(6) If someone is bothered by my mention that Crier is a woman of color, almost certainly they wouldn't be voting for her regardless.

(7) The post was targeted at liberal Facebook users who live in Salem. Salem tilts leftward, politically, while the rest of Marion County tilts conservative. If Crier is to win, she has to do really well among Salem voters, since she isn't going to win the Republican vote in other parts of Marion County. So my post should help with this.