QuickTake:

The commissioners heard from people opposed to federal immigration officers’ actions toward community members, including Juanita Avila of Cottage Grove, who was detained despite her lawful status.

About a dozen residents spoke to Lane County commissioners Tuesday with a message about the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who conducted recent raids in the region and detained a Cottage Grove woman who is a legal permanent resident.

In a previous interview with Lookout Eugene-Springfield, Juanita Avila, a business owner in Cottage Grove, described how federal immigration enforcement officers yanked her from her minivan and held her down on the street Nov. 5. A resident since 2014 in the community about 19 miles south of Springfield, Avila has won support from friends and neighbors appalled by the ICE actions.

Chris Ellis told commissioners he lives around the corner from Avila’s store.

“What they did to her, what they’ve been doing to so many others everywhere, this is straight-out barbaric,” Ellis said. “There’s no other way to describe it. These people are just mindless psychos.”

Ellis said his grandfather, who fought the Nazis in World War II, would have been angry “to see the same thing happening here that he witnessed in Europe 80 years ago.”

“It has to stop,” Ellis said, echoing what many in the room expressed to commissioners. “It has no place whatsoever in a civilized democracy.”

Avila attended the commissioners’ meeting but didn’t address officials. Others spoke out, reflecting on the shattered peace and tumultuous times.

“Lane County has been a bit of an oasis until last week, when terror came to our front door,” Brenda Kame’enui, a Eugene resident, told the group.

She urged commissioners to speak out “loud and clear” to federal authorities about the proper standards for law enforcement behavior, to stand up for the rights of all county residents and “denounce excessive force.”

“The lawless federal government needs to hear from every county and state in the nation,” Kame’enui said.

County commissioners expressed support for immigrant communities and said they’d do what they can to help.

Commission Chair David Loveall shared a story about an undocumented friend he has worked with on development projects for years, who “shed tears of great fear,” worried he would be detained and have to rebuild his immigration status anew.

Loveall said he’s helped that person obtain legal representation and written letters of recommendation to aid his immigration process.

“This is everyone’s problem,” Loveall said, encouraging people to “be involved in a brown person’s life. … It’s not us and them, it’s us.”

Commissioner Heather Buch, who participated in a vigil in Cottage Grove after the ICE raids, said the event was well-attended and commended Avila’s willingness to share her story, calling her “one of the bravest people I’ve ever met.”

A video of the encounter between Avila and ICE agents “was excruciating to watch and she has stood up in her community and told her story several times since then,” Buch said.

Commissioner Laurie Trieger commended county administrators for their response to the raids, which included making $100,000 available for emergency assistance to families impacted by federal immigration activity so they can get help with rent, utilities and other needs.

Trieger said the five commissioners are well-positioned to make public statements in support of community members. 

The last public statement about immigration from the commission ended with a split vote.

In April, commissioners voted 3-2 to approve a statement reaffirming that the county upholds the Oregon Sanctuary Promise Act, which prevents law enforcement from aiding federal immigration enforcement actions. That statement also reaffirmed the county’s support for transgender community members.

At the time of that vote, commissioners Pat Farr, Buch and Trieger passed the statement, while Loveall and Vice Chair Ryan Ceniga voted against it.

At the time, the disagreement hinged in part on an amendment to the statement that called for the county to pursue policies that upheld the rights of immigrants and transgender people. In April, Loveall said the county needs to uphold the rights of “all people,” not just those two groups. Ceniga at the time said he wondered if the statement added to the tension amid uncertain times, stressing he supports and accepts immigrants.

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Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.