PORTLAND, Ore. -- Fear among immigrants in Oregon might be leaving some families hungry. Many food pantries across the state report a decline in visits by people who may be fearful of being deported.

Last weekend, a pantry manager at an Oregon Food Bank partner agency was detained at his home by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Francisco Rodriguez Dominguez, who is protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, was later released after a public outcry.

Mariya Klimenko, hunger relief outreach coordinator with the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization's hunger relief program, said raids like this have Oregon residents - regardless of legal status - afraid.

"This is something that is criminalizing and vilifying just the act of not having been born in the United States, dressing differently, having an accent,” Klimenko said.

Widely publicized ICE raids have ramped up in Oregon and across the country in recent weeks, including in so-called sanctuary cities, like Portland and Eugene. The Trump administration has said that stepping up enforcement is necessary to keep the country safe.

Jen Turner, regional network manager at Oregon Food Bank, said some partner organizations have seen a decrease in the numbers of people getting emergency food. Some have explained they don't want to share their personal information, even though it is kept confidential. But, she said other partners haven't seen a decline.

"Something that we're really thinking about is: What are the ways that those partners are cultivating that trust and sustaining that trust, even in this heightened state of fear? And how can we learn from those partners and try to build more of that throughout our network?” Turner said.

Turner said Dominguez's release after the public outcry is a example of the community's power.

"It showed us, I feel, how deeply our community cares about these members of our shared community, and how strongly they feel about their right to be here,” she said.

Klimenko, whose program works in Portland-area school pantries, said immigrants are at heightened risk of food insecurity. She said she encourages them to find the food relief they need, adding that pantries at local schools aren't advertised to the public.

"You have to resist in many different ways,” she said. "It's also important to have a space where people can come together and share their common experiences and support one another, and a school food pantry is one of the places to do that."

She said she encourages people not to give in to the current climate of fear.


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During last week's Republican National Convention, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Americans are not safe due to immigrants committing violent crimes.

That's just one claim being challenged by leading immigration experts.

Nancy Foner, Ph.D., professor of Sociology at City University of New York's Hunter College, said labeling immigrants as criminals is an old, but persistent, myth.

She pointed to data showing that the vast majority of immigrants are not violent criminals.

"The foreign born, in fact, are much less likely than the native-born to commit violent crimes," said Foner. "And in fact, cities and neighborhoods with greater concentrations of immigrants have much lower crime and violence than comparable non-immigrant neighborhoods."

Immigrants were also blamed for smuggling fentanyl across the 2,000-mile southern border.

But according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 90% of the drugs linked to overdose deaths are smuggled by U.S. citizens through legal ports of entry.

Cruz also said immigrants were being allowed into the U.S. to vote in the upcoming elections - a conspiracy theory about something that never, or almost never, happens.

David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, pointed out that non-citizens are not legally allowed to vote in federal elections, and don't in part because they could be immediately deported if caught.

"To cast one ballot in an election in which 160 million ballots are going to be cast, it happens exceedingly rarely," said Becker, "largely because the states and federal government already have really good policies in place."

Others claimed immigrants were "receiving welfare."

Pia Orrenius, vice president and senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said immigrants are not eligible for the SNAP program (formerly known as food stamps), Social Security or other benefits - although they do pay payroll and other taxes that fund those programs.

She said immigrants actually strengthen America's economy, but local governments can feel squeezed if immigrants earn low wages.

"That negative impact, it mostly comes from education," said Orrenius. "K-12 education is expensive. The spending on education is an investment. Those investments are going to pay back many times what's invested."



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Leaders at the 5th annual Immigration Summit, which wrapped up in Los Angeles Friday, have vowed to stand strong no matter what happens with the November election.

The Republican candidate for president has called for mass deportations.

Miguel Santana, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation, said it alarms many people in a county where more than one-third of the residents of all ethnicities are foreign-born, and about 60% of children have at least one immigrant parent.

"We've been engaged in scenario planning," Santana explained. "We've prepared our immigrant community so that they know their rights, that we have the proper defense, but also, we're advancing comprehensive immigration reform. That is really what's needed."

The summit was co-sponsored by the California Community Foundation, the Council of Immigrant Inclusion and the Equity Research Institute at the University of Southern California.

Manuel Pastor, director of the institute, said deportations would leave a huge hole in the economy and tear families apart.

"In L.A. County, about a fifth of all Angelenos are either undocumented themselves or living with a family member who is undocumented," Pastor pointed out. "Fear of deportation, problems with accessing services because of status, affect a wide number of families."

Researchers also released the 5th annual State of Immigrants in Los Angeles report, which found naturalizations and wages for immigrants are up over the past few years. It also recommended continued support for county programs providing legal aid and help people access services in their preferred language.


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The Missouri House of Representatives has formed a special committee to look into what the House Speaker refers to as crimes committed by immigrants living illegally in Missouri.

The formation of this committee has sparked a debate between those who see it as a necessary step for public safety and those who view it as a misuse of resources driven by political motives.

House Speaker Dean Plocher - R-St. Louis County - said he's convinced this committee's findings will increase the safety of Missourians.

"The message needs to be," said Plocher, "'If you're not here in the state of Missouri legally, you're going to be detained - and you're going to be deported if you're committing crimes.'"

Data provided by Customs and U.S. Border Protection show last year, there were more than 1,200 violent crimes by committed non-citizens in the U.S. nationwide, and more than 2,000 related to drug trafficking and possession.

The first committee hearing will be in Jefferson City on July 11.

State Rep. David Tyson Smith - D-Columbia - said this isn't an issue in Missouri, and believes the committee is a waste of time and resources. He said it's all being done for political talking points.

"If we are really serious about these issues," said Smith, "we would form a special committee on gun violence to crack down on the shootings that are happening all over our state, that need to be clamped down on."

Studies have repeatedly shown that immigrants - legal and illegal - are more law abiding than people born here.

Research from The Marshall Project has found no correlation between undocumented immigrants and a rise in violent crimes.

However, some committee members believe people living in the U.S. illegally are to blame for an increase in Fentanyl and sex trafficking.




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