A few hundred people showed up at the Southern Oregon University campus to share concerns, ranging from immigration to tariffs to climate change.
One issue raised by residents involved reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained several people after a raid on a marijuana farm in Southern Oregon. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said his office can only respond to such incidents after they occur.
“When we hear about things like that, as those get reported to us, we have an obligation that the legislature has given to us to then look into to see if there are sanctuary state violations,” he said.
Under Oregon law, state and local police are prohibited from cooperating with federal immigration officials.
State Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland, said Democratic lawmakers face greater challenges under former President Donald Trump.
“Sadly, we are back to a period in which we are playing defense again," she said. "But not only defense, we are playing it against a much more insidious and much more well-prepared administration.”
Marsh said the state cannot afford to replace federal funding cuts to programs such as Medicaid. She said state lawmakers need to get more creative to fill the gaps, such as creating mobile clinics or partnering with local organizations.
State Sen. Jeff Golden took a more forceful stance.He said there are many things state lawmakers and the attorney general can’t do, and that activism is the only path forward.
