There are more than 404,000 immigrants in Oregon and nearly 5,300 refugees who have been resettled in the state since October 2019, according to the Department of Human Services. Today, these communities are experiencing fear and anxiety amid heightened federal immigration enforcement in Oregon and around the nation that has led to parents keeping students out of school, people skipping medical appointments and employers scrambling to fill work shifts.

Last month, Gov. Tina Kotek issued an executive order to create a council to better support these vulnerable Oregonians by improving coordination and communication among multiple state agencies that these residents might access, such as the Oregon Health Authority, Oregon Department of Transportation and Department of Human Services. Jessica Ventura, director of the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Advancement, is leading this new council, whose work is being informed by conversations with community groups who work directly with immigrants and refugees.

Ventura and Gov. Kotek joined OPB’s “Think Out Loud” to discuss the Interagency Council for Immigrant and Refugee Coordination.

The following are highlights from the conversation, edited for brevity and clarity.

Federal immigration arrests are causing not only fear but cascading effects in impacted communities

Jessica Ventura: “Since I started back in July, my team and I have traveled about 2,000 miles, and we’ve met with over 40 community partners. … We were actually listening and hearing about the impacts in real time. … The moment that somebody got arrested, especially if it was the head of household, families were losing access to funds, right? Access to be able to provide groceries, access to food, and the fear to take kids to school, which meant kids were missing school and people didn’t want to go to public buildings or to the buildings that provide services to Oregonians every day, but just the fear was immense as we were traveling across the state.

“We know that when immigration enforcement picks up and impacts families, families turn to community partners. They don’t turn to government agencies first. They really turn to community partners. Our goal here is to reduce any harm by making sure that state agencies are communicating in alignment and that we’re not adding to that fear and that we’re actually being helpful to community partners as they’re serving families that are being impacted.”

Even people of color who are citizens or have legal status aren’t completely safe from federal immigration arrests

Gov. Tina Kotek: “Because of what I would call racial profiling by the administration, Black, Indigenous, brown — anybody who looks a certain way — are targets, regardless of what their status is. Let’s talk about the Venezuelan national family: the mom and dad and their child who were stopped in the parking lot in Portland. They were here via asylee status in a legal pathway. And yet they were picked up. … It’s really important for Oregonians to understand this: This isn’t just somebody else’s problem. This is everyone’s problem because everybody who doesn’t look a certain way [to] the Trump administration is a target.”

The recent immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota offers lessons to Oregon

Kotek: “We have federal agents who are not appropriately trained. That is a dangerous situation for individuals. So one of the things that we need to understand is safety is a paramount issue. How do we keep people safe in these interactions? So knowing what your rights are, knowing how to respond appropriately in different settings is even more important than it was before.

“The woman who was pulled over in Salem a couple of weeks ago — a citizen taken out of her car — suffered a concussion. And then was just left by federal agents because they realized after seeing her passport that they didn’t have to be with this person. This is the stuff that Minnesota brought to another level. That is happening today, that kind of unlawful behavior that is impacting people physically, mentally, and communities across the state.”

Ventura was once an undocumented immigrant raised in North Portland. That personal history shapes her work today

Ventura: “As someone who grew up undocumented and came to this country at 5 years old, I have experienced that fear, and just naming that fear is really important because it makes things real for folks. So even just recognizing what people were going through is really what made the difference in people trusting our office.

“I know what it’s like to wonder if anyone from your household would be at home after school and whether or not family members were going to be taken away. And so that experience definitely shapes how I lead today. It’s definitely pushed me towards work where I could help make systems clearer and more responsive to all Oregonians really, but now specifically for immigrant and refugee communities … and that all Oregonians keep their trust in their ability to access everyday services that our agencies provide.”

Gov. Tina Kotek and Jessica Ventura spoke to “Think Out Loud” host Dave Miller. Click play to listen to the full conversation:

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/02/19/oregon-governor-tina-kotek-state-agencies-support-immigrants-refugees/