by Shaanth Nanguneri, Oregon Capital Chronicle
October 16, 2025
Some Oregon Democrats are pushing for a possible special legislative session to respond to the Trump administration’s campaign of mass deportations and immigration raids, a Portland-area lawmaker said Thursday.
Lawmakers plan to meet Friday with legislative leaders to discuss options for legislation responding to raids, Rep. Ricki Ruiz, D-Gresham, said during a panel hosted by the national pro-immigrant group America’s Voice.
“There’s some of us having discussion on whether or not we wanted to push a special session that allows us to bring legislation before the short session, but we’re still in the midst of trying to figure that out,” Ruiz said.
“The Oregon short session begins in February, and that feels like an eternity from now,” he added. “So we’re gathering up with leadership tomorrow, as a matter of fact, to talk about what we can do in regards to next steps.”
Ruiz has been particularly outspoken about immigration enforcement operations in his district in recent days. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Gresham conducted an arrest of four construction workers, three of whom Ruiz says the agency did not have an administrative warrant for, as Oregon Public Broadcasting reported Tuesday.
Another video Ruiz posted Thursday on Facebook appears to show a newborn child crying in a bedroom as agents take two men from an apartment bedroom. The men had different names than the one ICE agents said they were seeking, Ruiz said.
“That’s not law enforcement, that’s not justice,” he said. “That’s fear, invading the homes and hearts of families.”
The Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond to questions about those reports.
The panel included politicians, experts and community advocates who spoke critically of what the Trump administration describes as a crackdown on rampant illegal immigration and crime. Immigrant rights advocates heavily dispute that framing, pointing to a September Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for racial profiling in immigration enforcement.
Along with Ruiz, a former ICE chief of staff, Democratic Illinois State Sen. Cristina Castro and other advocates described how raids across the country have stoked fear in communities while preventing ICE from targeting serious criminals.
In Oregon, for instance, masked agents detained a U.S. citizen outside his place of work and held him at ICE’s Portland facility for hours before releasing him, his lawyer told the Associated Press last week, prompting him to file a tort claim, the first step in a civil lawsuit against a government agency.
“There’s no one at the helm currently that’s looking at the consequences of these actions,” said Jason Houser, a former ICE chief of staff who served in both the Biden and Obama administrations. “This agency and other agencies are going to be drowning in litigation over these issues for decades because of the way that these are being carried out, and that will only keep us less safe.”
Ruiz’s remarks on potential legislative action came after Castro said lawmakers in her state are considering ways to “tighten up” their laws after mentioning the importance of people filming ICE agent interactions. A federal judge Thursday also ordered immigration officers in Chicago to wear body cameras amid concerns about violent clashes between agents and the public.
It remains to be seen what tools Oregon lawmakers could add in a state that already has among the oldest and strongest sanctuary state restrictions in the nation. Those laws prevent local and state law enforcement from assisting or collaborating with immigration authorities without an actual court order. The measure is currently the subject of an ongoing lawsuit backed by county governments facing requests for information from ICE.
Another proposal from Oregon lawmakers aimed at ICE agents seeks to amend the Oregon Constitution to prevent law enforcement face coverings. If it were to pass the Legislature and be approved by Oregon voters in 2026, the proposal would still face significant legal questions due to the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause, which prevents state laws from impeding on the federal government’s operations. The Trump administration has said California’s version of the law is unconstitutional and directed ICE not to follow it.
Jill Bakken, a spokesperson for House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene said that Fahey is looking forward to hearing more about specific proposals for legislation “as these conversations develop.”
“In preparation for the 2026 session, Speaker Fahey has been holding serious, thoughtful conversations with legislators and community members about how to respond to Trump’s abuses of the Constitution and attacks on our communities — from National Guard deployment to masked law enforcement to immigration raids,” Bakken wrote in an email.
A special session, however, would be a significant undertaking for Oregon lawmakers this year, who just wrapped up one of the state’s longest special sessions in history on Oct. 1 after struggling to pass a transportation infrastructure package for Gov. Tina Kotek to sign.
The only other Democrat to publicly suggest a separate special session in recent months was Sen. Mark Meek, D-Gladstone, amid concerns about the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding should the state’s tax code automatically align with federal tax provisions passed under the summer GOP tax and spending law. Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, removed him from his chairmanship and seat on the Senate Committee on Finance and Revenue earlier this month.
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