Chairmen Jordan, McClintock, and Roy Demand Information on Sanctuary Policies from Austin and Portland Officials

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Chairman Tom McClintock (R-CA), and Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government Chairman Chip Roy (R-TX) sent a letter to Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza for information on his office's dangerous sanctuary policies. 

Garza previously committed to "[p]rotect immigrant communities" by "creat[ing] a [district attorney's] office that considers the impact of charges and convictions" on foreign nationals and "ensures that the sentence imposed is not unduly harsh for any class of people." Garza also vowed to "create an immigration task force composed of directly impacted people and policy experts to help Travis County move forward in making [Travis County] a place anyone can call home," apparently including foreign national criminals. 

To support these pro-illegal alien policies, he promised that the Travis County District Attorney's Office would expand diversion programs even for foreign nationals charged with felonies so that they can avoid the "devastating" and "life-long" effects of "immigration." More broadly, Garza's office's soft-on-crime approach led to the release of at least five criminal aliens in 2024 alone.

Chairmen Jordan and McClintock also sent letters to Oregon Department of Corrections Director Mike Reese, Multnomah County Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O'Donnell, Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez, and Portland Police Bureau Chief Bob Day on their offices' sanctuary policies that prioritize criminal and illegal aliens over American citizens and threaten public safety. 

Oregon law prohibits state and local law enforcement from disclosing criminal aliens' information to federal immigration officials, limits immigration arrests at certain locations, forbids law enforcement from sharing criminal aliens’ release dates with federal officials, and prohibits compliance with ICE detainers. The state of Oregon even promotes its Sanctuary Promise Violations Hotline, which allows foreign nationals to report suspected violations of Oregon's pro-illegal alien policies.

Less than one year ago, ICE arrested an illegal alien from Mexico with convictions for attempted sex abuse and intimidation based on his assault of a woman in Portland. Despite an ICE detainer, the convicted felon was released by the Oregon Department of Corrections back onto Oregon streets instead of to federal immigration officials. Years earlier, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office ignored an ICE detainer and released an illegal alien who had been arrested for felony domestic violence. Seven months after his release, the criminal alien murdered his wife.

Nathan Vasquez has continued the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office's pro-illegal alien policies, directing his office's prosecutors to consider a criminal defendant's immigration consequences and to "take reasonable steps to seek an immigration-neutral resolution once informed that such consequences may exist." Even though he describe this policy as not giving foreign nationals softer sentences, Vasquez admits that "a disposition that may be acceptable to all parties in one case may be severely damaging in another, depending on differences" in factors such as "current immigration status."

The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) has prohibited its officers from honoring ICE detainers and otherwise cooperating with ICE for years. Chief Day's office even directs people who witness ICE activity to call an organization that advocates for ICE's abolishment. Like other sanctuary jurisdictions the Committee has examined, the shielding of criminal aliens from immigration enforcement in Portland undermines public safety and thwarts the efficient enforcement of federal law.

Read the letter to DA Jose Garza here. 

Read the letter to Director Reese here. 

Read the letter to Sheriff Morrisey O'Donnell here. 

Read the letter to DA Nathan Vasquez here. 

Read the letter to Chief Day here.