An exchange on Wednesday over immigration policies could offer a preview of friction for the upcoming legislative session as Oregon Democrats try to push back on aggressive federal actions.
Across the nation, Democratically-controlled legislatures are trying to challenge the federal government’s mass deportation efforts by introducing bills to restrict U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents’ activities in their states.
During a panel discussion ahead of the 2026 legislative session, which kicks off on Monday, Oregon Democratic leaders made it clear that resisting the Trump administration’s agenda will take center stage in Salem.
From left, Rep. Lucetta (R-McMinnville) Elmer, Rep. Julie Fahey (D-Eugene) and Rep. Benjamin Bowman (D-Tigard) speak to reporters at a legislative preview on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026 in Salem, Ore.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
Many of the state’s legislative policies in the works – to prevent law enforcement officers from concealing their identity, by covering their faces, for example – were underway before Alex Pretti was killed by federal officers in Minneapolis and before a 7-year-old and her parents were detained at Portland Adventist Health.
An exchange between the House Republican Leader and Democratic leaders in the statehouse crystallized the divisive nature of how immigration policies are playing out across the country and momentarily interrupted what was otherwise a staid event.
“I will just say I believe that a lot of the activity we’re seeing from ICE and other federal agencies is unconstitutional,” said House Democratic Leader Ben Bowman, D-Tigard, adding, “Americans’ rights are being violated on TV across the country every single day.”
House Republican Leader Lucetta Elmer said everyone can agree they “don’t want to see violence.”
“We don’t want to have children coming home that are afraid to go back to school. I don’t think anyone wants that,” Elmer, a McMinnville lawmaker, said.
But, she added, “I do think that we have to shift from the fear, elevating talk, and really look at what’s trying to be accomplished here. We have seen such an uptick in criminals, in cartel, in human trafficking in this state that we need to do something. I mean, I’m talking just about our state. I know it’s throughout America, but right here in Oregon, we know this to be true.”
Rep. Julie Fahey (D-Eugene), right, and Rep. Lucetta (R-McMinnville) attend a legislative preview for the press on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026 in Salem, Ore.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
In the exchange, which went on for a few minutes, Bowman shot back, “I think the fear is real.”
Elmer took aim at Oregon’s sanctuary laws, which prevent state and local law enforcement from helping federal agents to work with immigration officers. She said if the different agencies could work together, federal agents could simply “pick them out of our jails” so they wouldn’t have to “try to figure out where [the violent people] are.”
House Speaker Julie Fahey, a Democrat from Eugene, said “the federal government has made fewer arrests for drug crimes and seized fewer weapons than they did in the previous years because their attention is on this brutal immigration crackdown and not on child exploitation crimes, drug crimes and weapons crimes.”
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat, also weighed in, saying federal enforcement activity and where it is happening is concerning.
“Hospital parking lots, outside courthouses, outside of our schools,” Kotek said. “All of those things are very concerning for me and for lawmakers.”
In the upcoming legislative session, lawmakers will be faced with a litany of challenges from a large state budget hole to a transportation funding fiasco.
