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The City Council moved $50,000 into its contingency fund to prepare to give aid to those affected by federal immigration enforcement. The council will determine how much to distribute once staff identify needs on the ground.
The Eugene City Council voted Monday, Dec. 8 to move $50,000 from city reserves into the council’s contingency budget, freeing up funds to support local communities impacted by federal immigration enforcement efforts.
The unanimous vote came after the council directed the city manager to assess the financial needs of local nonprofit agencies that support immigrants.
Immigration and Custom Enforcement activity in Oregon has surged since October, with agents detaining at least 15 Lane County residents last month. Volunteers and nonprofits have led much of the local response, coordinating support through resource networks and donations.
Councilors moved the money into the contingency fund so they can “quickly and nimbly” deploy funding once city staff identify needs on the ground, said Councilor Lyndsie Leech, who introduced the amendment to the city’s 2025-27 supplemental budget.
She said the contingency fund — typically used for purchases like voter pamphlets and council travel — already holds between $100,000 and $200,000.
The money could prevent families whose primary earners have been taken by ICE from slipping into homelessness, Leech said. The council could also direct the funds to local immigrant-rights and support groups, or cover towing fees for vehicles left behind after arrests, she added.
“When we put our money into it, we’re showing the community really where our values are,” Leech told Lookout Eugene-Springfield after the meeting. “We can say everything that we want to say, but unless we actually act on it, we’re not really speaking our values.”
As part of Leech’s motion, councilors also directed the city manager to work with council leadership to draft a resolution reaffirming support for Eugene’s immigrant communities and acknowledging the crisis caused by federal immigration enforcement actions.
The Oregon cities of Hillsboro, Salem, Woodburn, Forest Grove and Cornelius, as well as Washington County, have recently declared states of emergency over immigration enforcement, allocating between $50,000 and $400,000 to support affected residents.
Leech — who represents Ward 7, which encompasses the Whiteaker and River Road areas — said Eugene’s resolution isn’t intended to be a formal state of emergency, which would be declared by the city manager, but rather a “clear statement” recognizing one.
Eugene is already a sanctuary city, meaning it has pledged to not use its own resources to assist with federal immigration enforcement.
She will work with the city’s legal team and Interim City Manager Matt Rodrigues over the council’s winter break to draft the resolution, so councilors can propose amendments and vote on it in January.
At that point, the council will determine how much to allocate from its contingency fund — a decision that will depend on needs identified by staff and councilors’ appetite given budget constraints, Leech said.
Budget pushback
Financial concerns emerged during the discussion, largely from councilors Randy Groves and Mike Clark, who said they were wary of pulling from reserves given that Eugene must reduce general fund spending by $2.2 million per year beginning in 2027 to keep its savings on target.
“I’m kind of torn on this,” Groves said, adding that he will “support this for now,” but wants “a lot more information about where it’s going, what the need is, how the money is going to be utilized, what the overhead costs are before we pull the spend lever.”
City Manager Sarah Medary said a one-time transfer of $50,000 is “doable,” but she reminded the council that federal immigration enforcement could be a multiyear crisis, not six weeks.
Councilor Eliza Kashinsky said she shares the budget concerns, but that the city must consider ways it will step up to meet local needs as the federal government worsens Eugene’s financial situation by withholding grants and halting some services.
“When I look at the amount of money that we’re talking about putting in this contingency, it is a very, very, very small amount compared to the overall amount of our budget,” she said. “This $50,000 is not going to make or break the budget.”
Councilors Jennifer Yeh and Matt Keating enthusiastically supported the allocations, with Keating suggesting that $50,000 may not be enough.
Leech said Eugene residents want their elected representatives to respond “very visibly” to the Trump administration spreading fear through the community.
Since Trump’s reelection, community members have regularly protested against federal immigration enforcement outside of downtown Eugene’s federal building — which houses an ICE office — and some have criticized councilors for not showing up to support the activism.
“There’s no way that I can continue to be representative of our people in any capacity if I just let some of this stuff go,” Leech said.
Rob Fisette, an organizer with the Lane County Immigrant Defense Network, said he is glad Eugene’s city government is taking steps to provide some resources for immigrant community members impacted by what he termed ICE’s “terror campaign.”
“We hope this is the first step of many, including meeting the demand for an emergency declaration which came directly from targeted people in Eugene,” Fisette told Lookout. “Given the scale of the attacks, we need these commitments more than ever, and Monday’s announcement is a welcome start.”
