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Immigration issue back in Oregon campaigns High-emotion issue returns to campaign for governor By JOSEPH B. FRAZIER Associated Press writer BOARDMAN — In a pink cinderblock Grange hall in heavily Hispanic Boardman, the immigration issue, nearly absent from the gubernatorial campaign until recently, was very much alive and not sitting well. The dozen or so Hispanic farmworkers who gathered with The Associated Press said that while they can’t vote, they wished candidates would see things as they do. The immigration issue cooled after a Republican primary fight in which Ron Saxton and Kevin Mannix jousted to see who could be to the right of whom. It’s back with new spin and energy in the tight race between Saxton and Gov. Ted Kulongoski — in English and generally playing to non-Hispanic voters, who are far more likely than Hispanics to vote. Although many key issues will be decided in Washington, not Salem — in the Grange hall, frustrations surfaced. “(Saxton) is welcome to come shovel onions with me,” said Jose Marques. “It’s what I do all day.” “We pay taxes but we don’t get overtime. We don’t get holidays,” said another worker. “We don’t want to be against Saxton. We want him to communicate with us,” said another. Their comments were mainly aimed against Saxton. But Democrats have also been playing to voter concerns about illegal immigration. Kulongoski, who had skirted the issue, now stresses tougher sanctions against employers who hire and exploit illegal immigrants and says he is leading the state toward a federal move to deny licenses to undocumented residents. A new campaign flyer said he has authorized the Oregon National Guard to send volunteers to guard the Mexican border. “We’re finding nationally that this is one issue the Republicans can use without bringing up the president,” said Jim Moore, who teaches political science at Pacific University. “The Democrats are seeing this as an issue that could cause problems and are fighting back in the traditional way by saying ’yes, we do that too.’ “ Now, Moore said, “everybody is saying there’s a problem. If you don’t, you’re going to lose elections. Nobody wants to be seen as basically saying foreigners can come in and have a major role in the community.” The Hispanic population is vastly larger than its number of likely voters. And in Oregon, at least, it has not been targeted by politicians. The Pew Hispanic Center concludes that Hispanics accounted for 40 percent of the population increase in the United States between 2000 and 2004, but for only 10 percent of new voters, partly because of age and legal status. So Oregon’s gubernatorial candidates are stumping elsewhere. Saxton once advocated keeping children of illegal immigrants from public schools, a position he dropped but which many still remember. He claims Kulongoski lures immigrants to Oregon by allowing driver’s licenses for illegals that they use to get ballots and has advocated deportation of illegal immigrants. Last summer the Oregon Republican Party’s central committee approved a constitutionally improbable resolution to keep American-born children of illegal aliens from becoming citizens. The Constitution Party’s gubernatorial candidate, Mary Starrett, vows to be “a governor dedicated to the export of people who do not belong in Oregon.” Stump speeches aside, some state services are federally mandated and governors can’t deport anybody. Charges of racism by Hispanics mix with the sometimes-reluctant acknowledgment that Oregon agriculture would be in trouble without Hispanic manpower that is largely undocumented. Saxton’s ownership of a farm fired up bloggers who suggested it may have employed illegal immigrants. Saxton says he doesn’t know, and that he sold his share in the farm six years ago. Still, Kulongoski has accused Saxton of hypocrisy for raising the immigration issue while not supporting a “state sanction against employers who hire illegal aliens.” East of the Cascades, the issue of illegal immigration seems lower-key than in the more activist Willamette Valley, where organized groups have held mobile information programs sponsored by the Mexican Consulate and demonstrations by Hispanics for immigration rights and by those protesting illegal immigration have been common. As Interstate 84 hugs the Columbia River going east, scenery and attitudes change, as do bumper stickers, from Bush-bashing to “Stay the Course” and “We Are All New Yorkers Now.” Where fir trees turn to pine and sagebrush, many prefer to mind their own business and wish their neighbors would. “A lot of people here won’t tell you how they feel about immigration and the election,” said Fernando Aceves, director of the Hermiston-based La Conexion, a weekly Spanish-language newspaper published by the Pendleton East Oregonian. A La Conexion editorial dubbed illegal immigration “an easy target” at a time of Republican worries about other issues and tight races. Steve Brown, The East Oregonian’s managing editor, said neither Saxton nor Kulongoski dwelled on the issue during recent visits and that Republican Congressman Greg Walden, who represents the district, has generally ignored it. Brown noted that Milton-Freewater is trying for the fifth time to pass an education funding measure in a district with ancient schools and a large Hispanic majority. Brown said one reason could be that people “don’t want to pay for schooling for children of illegal immigrants. Still, Brown said, “people understand that we need these folks” because of the jobs they do. Umatilla County Sheriff John Trumbo, who famously sent Mexican President Vicente Fox a bill for the costs incurred by jailed illegal immigrants, agrees that the matter is beyond state control. “We won’t fix it at our level and not really at the state level,” he said, saying it is mostly a border security question tied to Mexican poverty and attitudes here. He said some employers hire illegals because they work for less and don’t complain for fear of detection and that Mexico must improve conditions to cut down on the exodus of its poor. But he agrees with Saxton that “illegal means illegal.” Trumbo said his job is the law, not politics. But if people knew the legal costs “they would scream bloody murder,” he said. He said the county is paying medical costs for one illegal immigrant held for murder who has a broken jaw and needs other surgery. “And we have one with a bullet still in him,” he said. One more was sentenced to true life for murder and another got life with at least 25 years to serve before parole. Given life expectancies, he said, those two likely will cost the state $2.2 million — “and that’s just bed costs.” Umatilla County detective Terry Rowan, who has worked extensively in the Hermiston area, said he supports the law banning illegal immigration. But he can also see another side. His family raises watermelons and asparagus there. “This summer it was a real struggle getting the crops in,” he said. Back to Top Home |
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