‘No’ On Measure 105

Measure 105 seeks to repeal Oregon Revised Statute 181A.820. This statute forbids state agencies, including law enforcement, from using state or local resources to detect persons whose only crime is that they are in the United States unlawfully.

Undocumented persons who commit crimes are not protected by this statute. This statute arose following a 1977 case where Polk County Sheriffs, at the direction of Immigration Naturalization Service agents, publicly berated Delmiro Trevino, a U.S. citizen of Mexican descent, to see proof that he was lawfully in the United States. 

One major reason for voting “no” on Measure 105 is premised in the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Under that amendment, an officer can stop, pat down and question any person, so long as the officer is able to articulate facts that produce a rational inference that a person has committed a crime.

This, then, raises some concerns. It is important to ask yourself, since unauthorized presence in the United States is a crime, if Oregonians vote “no” on Measure 105, will a police officer be able to articulate a rational inference of illegal presence based on your appearance, like in Mr. Trevino’s case?

Or what if you’re speaking Spanish, like the two women who were stopped in Montana by a border patrol agent?

Apolinar Montero-Sánchez

Eugene