(Sergio Martinez - Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office)
Oregon Governor Kate Brown is under pressure to veto a bill that would create a sanctuary state, after an illegal alien who had been deported 20 times was arrested and charged with raping an elderly woman in Portland.
House Bill 3464 is an "emergency" bill that would bar "public bodies," such as state and local law enforcement, from giving up or asking about a person's immigration status except as required by state and federal law.
People against the sanctuary state move have been calling on Brown to stop the measure, since 31-year-old Sergio Martinez was arrested on July 24th.
Martinez is accused of binding and raping a 65-year-old Portland woman, and then trying to kidnap a 24-year-old woman later that day.
Just one week earlier, Martinez was released the Multnomah County jail after ICE tried to hold him with a civil detainer. They didn't try to hold him with a criminal warrant signed by a judge because they couldn't do that legally in Oregon.
Sheriff Mike Reese said Martinez was “released consistent with the orders of the court” after serving a 31-day sentence, which is the maximum by law.
Martinez has been charged with first-degree sex abuse, sodomy, burglary, robbery, and kidnapping. He'd been deported to Mexico 20 times and had been booked 9 times into the Multnomah County jail alone since 2008.
Senate Minority Whip Dennis Linthicum said in a statement:
“Under no circumstances should an alleged sex-offending criminal illegal alien get off scot free from their heinous crimes. This is why we have rules, laws and the legislature … these institutions protect people.”
The sanctuary state bill won final approval on July 6th in a Democrat-controlled Legislature with no Republican votes. Governor Kate Brown has 30 days to make a decision.