Salem city councilors stood against federal immigration practices Monday, declaring an emergency over enforcement that has raised intense fears and concerns throughout the community over the safety of immigrant families, students and workers.

The declaration states that Salem – Oregon’s second-largest city – has observed federal agents violate people’s constitutional rights while increasing immigration enforcement in the area.

The Salem City Council acted after almost two hours of public testimony filled with personal stories from Salem residents. The councilors were responding to increasing calls from the public for more action to support the city’s immigrant community.

The declaration, proposed last week by Councilor Vanessa Nordyke, passed 6-3. Mayor Julie Hoy and Councilors Shane Matthews and Deanna Gwyn voted against it. Nordyke is challenging Hoy for mayor in the 2026 election.

“Reality is lawlessness has come to Salem, and it is high time we do something about it,” Nordyke said moments before voting on the declaration. “There are a lot of sectors of our community that feel gaslit, they’re told all the time that they’re not seeing what they’re seeing, that their feelings don’t matter and that they shouldn’t be heard,” she said, referring to testimony of people describing the threats federal agents can pose to families, students and businesses.

The declaration was approved with several amendments.

One asks city employees to search for grants to fund social programs for people affected by immigration enforcement. Another adds asylum seekers to the people under threat by federal immigration enforcement.

The third requires quarterly reports from city staff to the council about implementing the declaration.

Around 100 people sat in the audience of Monday’s meeting, with several holding signs that read “unmask ICE,” “stop illegal ICE activity,” and “support human dignity.”

During testimony, people cited increasing arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. On Nov. 11, federal agents arrested 26 people around the city – the city’s largest single-day immigration arrest total in recent history.

The declaration directs city leaders to consider starting programs to protect community members “in the face of harm and terror caused by ICE’s actions.” It also called for training of city employees on the sanctuary law and posting signs on city property specifying non-public areas of city property that are not accessible to the public.

The declaration does not direct city funding to support immigrants or those affected by immigration enforcement, something that people asked for at last week’s city council meeting and again Monday evening.

The council did vote last week to reaffirm the city’s support of state sanctuary law, which bars local governments from assisting federal immigration work. The statement passed 7-2, with Councilors Shane Matthews and Deanna Gwyn opposed.

More than 200 people packed the Salem Public Library auditorium last week to demand more action from the council to support immigrants and refuse cooperation with federal authorities.

In the new declaration, the city cites increasing and harmful impacts of activity by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – ICE – on the community, including reports that federal agents have violated the rights of Salem residents.

“The unnecessary and likely unlawful tactics being used by many federal immigration enforcement authorities have generated widespread fear in the community, which cause our residents to be fearful of leaving their homes to go to work, school, access city services, take public transportation, attend medical appointments and other necessary daily activities,” the declaration said.

Federal agents have arrested or detained people in Salem without due process, refused to share reasons for arrests they make and questioned people about their immigration status based on race, ethnicity, accent or job, according to the declaration.

Federal immigration authorities “institutionalize racial profiling and encourage discrimination,” the declaration reads.

The declaration did not cite specific instances where ICE agents or other federal authorities were reported to violate people’s right to due process or other constitutional rights.

It also states that ICE activity and fear of immigration enforcement has denied children their access to education, negatively affected businesses and discouraged people from reporting crime.

Salem’s declaration follows similar ones made in Woodburn, Hillsboro and Washington County in recent weeks. Woodburn is setting aside $30,000 to “minimize the impact of the emergency,” while Washington County agreed to allocate $200,000 for immigration-related services.

“Keeping families together and children protected and safe is a fundamental value for the city of Salem and mass deportation efforts, especially without due process, threaten the well-being of Salem families and neighborhoods, harm vulnerable populations, cause economic pain and hardship, and interfere with businesses and day-to-day life across the city” the declaration said.

Discussion by city councilors focused on a question Nordyke posed to her peers: Who has the appetite to do more?

The question followed repeated calls from people in the audience for the council to allocate $300,000 in city funds to people affected by ICE arrests and deportation. The specific demand came from Latinos Unidos Siempre, a local youth-led grassroots organization.

Councilors Irvin Brown, Mai Vang, Micki Varney and Paul Tigan all said they want to do more for the community and continue working to find more services to provide for people.

“ICE activity continues to increase in northeast Salem, and that is where our (Black, Indigenous and people of color) community calls home, that is where our Latino community lives and that is where I live. So I take my responsibility to care for my ward seriously and so that appetite is there,” Vang said.

Vang and Brown cited testimony from Monday night and conversations with community members about immigrant and Latino communities not feeling heard or represented by city leadership and wanting more solidarity.

Several councilors also voiced concern that the city budget does not have room for a large allocation for families in need of legal services or financial support due to immigration enforcement.

City Manager Krishna Namburi said the city’s budget no longer has a fund for social services, which is where other cities have pulled funding from for immigration resources.

“Regardless of what we do tonight, and regardless of how this council will be unified even if we split on it, the concern is still out there, the concern, the threat, the danger to families being broken apart and folks, you know, snatched in the middle of the night … that is very troublesome when folks, for whatever reason, feel like they can take families apart simply because of how they look,” Brown said. “The part that breaks my heart, even as we continue to do the work and do what we can, there’s no guarantee that ICE is not gonna take a family away tomorrow, tonight, there’s no guarantee.”

Hoy voted against the motion, because “it just doesn’t do enough,” she said. She did not propose any amendments to the motion or mention what she wants future action to look like.

Councilors Matthews and Gwyn shared similar reasons for voting against the motion, telling people in the audience that the declaration would not take concrete action to protect people in Salem.

“I think it will have the profound opposite effect which will be an increased ICE presence, I think we’ve seen it in other communities,” Matthews said.

How they voted

Salem city councilors voted 6-3 to declare a state of emergency related to immigration enforcement actions.

Voting yes: Council President Linda Nishioka and Councilors Paul Tigan, Irvin Brown, Mai Vang, Vanessa Nordyke and Micki Varney

Voting no: Mayor Julie Hoy and Councilors Deanna Gwyn and Shane Matthews

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/12/02/salem-city-council-ice-emergency-immigration/