Forced vote on Oregon Sanctuary State Law

By Oregon House Republican Caucus
May 8th, 2025

Oregon House Republicans forced a vote on the House Floor on legislation to modernize Oregon’s Sanctuary State law. House Bill 3551 would allow law enforcement agencies in Oregon to work with federal authorities to identify and remove individuals convicted of violent felonies, Class A misdemeanors, and felony sexual offenses. The motion to withdraw the bill from the Judiciary Committee failed despite receiving bipartisan votes, with a majority of House Democrats voting to shield undocumented immigrants who have committed violent crimes from federal law enforcement.

“Our communities should not be sanctuaries for murderers, rapists, and other violent criminals. This bill is a common-sense policy that protects Oregonians by holding the most violent criminals accountable. But common sense isn’t very common in Oregon, as my bill never even got a hearing,” said Rep. Alek Skarlatos (R-Canyonville) who introduced the bill, and made the motion. “Allowing state and local law enforcement to work with federal authorities to identify and remove illegal immigrants and foreign terrorists who are charged with some of the most heinous crimes is too popular and pragmatic for Oregon Democrats.”

The vote follows the announcement from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on the largest fentanyl bust in DEA history involving the arrest of a Sinaloa cartel leader, Heriberto Salazar Amaya, an illegal immigrant living in Salem whom authorities say had been removed from the U.S. twice already.

“Today we had an opportunity to keep our communities safe by denying sanctuary protections to violent criminals, terrorist gangs, and dangerous rapists,” said House Republican Leader Christine Drazan (R-Canby), a sponsor of the bill. “House Democrats blocked common sense legislation that would give law enforcement additional tools and resources to do their jobs and hold violent criminals, in the United States illegally, accountable.”

Governor Tina Kotek has stated that she “won’t back down” from shielding criminal illegal immigrants operating in Oregon and Attorney General Dan Rayfield recently said that he would not use state resources to keep communities safe from undocumented immigrants who have committed violent crimes. Instead, Rayfield is using state resources to shield violent criminal illegal immigrants.

A statewide poll commissioned by House Republicans revealed that 69% of Oregonians support deporting undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of a crime while in the United States. The statewide poll was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies between January 4–7 of this year, surveying 500 registered Oregon voters with a ±4.38% margin of error.