Oregon sheriff concerned about letters asking people to track possible immigrants

LINCOLN CITY, Ore. — A sheriff in Oregon says he has contacted the FBI and is increasingly concerned about a letter circulating in his rural, coastal community asking people to write down the license plate numbers of possible immigrants.

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office issued a news release on Thursday condemning the letters that have appeared across the county, describing them as divisive. Sheriff Curtis Landers told KPTV that he contacted federal authorities after receiving such a letter himself.

The FBI said Friday it was aware of the mailings. In a statement, it encouraged community members who feel physically threatened to report their concerns to law enforcement.

The letter tells the recipient to be on alert while sitting in their church parking lot or waiting in line to pick up their children at school, so as to write down the license plate numbers of cars believed to belong to immigrants who might lack permanent legal status.

The sheriff's office said it was committed to upholding Oregon's sanctuary law, which prohibits local police in most cases from inquiring about an individual's immigration or citizenship status and sharing that information with federal authorities.

''We are encouraging our community members to do the right thing and use compassion as we encounter these types of messages,'' the sheriff's office said in its news release. ''We strongly advise against engaging in activities such as those outlined in this letter, including collecting or sharing information about individuals based on their demographic or perceived immigration status.''

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum similarly condemned the letters. ''Attempts to intimidate our communities and their leaders through racist letter writing campaigns has no place in Oregon, and we will continue to stand together in opposition to those who seek to divide us,'' she said in a statement Friday.

The Associated Press emailed the sheriff's office on Friday, requesting comment and asking about the number and distribution method of the letters. When reached by phone, the sheriff's office said Landers and its spokesperson were both out of the office and unable to respond to calls or emails that day.

Landers received a copy of the letter in his mailbox, according to KPTV. Elsewhere in the county, the mayor and city councilors of the small town of Toledo and the mayor of Lincoln City also received copies in the mail, KGW reported.

In response to Trump's vows to conduct mass deportations during his second term, advocacy groups across the country have hosted know-your-rights trainings to teach immigrants how to protect themselves and their loved ones. The trainings are underway in immigrant-friendly states including California and Illinois — which both enacted protections for immigrants in response to Trump's focus on enforcement during his first administration — and those with more stringent laws affecting immigrants such as Florida.

Meanwhile, officials in a growing number of Republican-led states are proposing to give local law officers the power to arrest people who entered the country illegally, mirroring recent laws in Texas and elsewhere that have been placed on hold while courts weigh whether they unconstitutionally usurp federal authority.

Oregon became the first sanctuary state in 1987. Its law bars local and state police from participating in federal immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant, and also prohibits private immigration detention facilities from operating in the state.

Oregon's sanctuary law has been updated and strengthened over the years, including in 2021, when the Legislature passed a measure creating a hotline for reporting violations of the law.