TASK FORCE ON ICE

On July 17, the city's Immigrant and Refugee Task Force finally weighed in on the Del Monte Produce factory Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid—which happened on June 12, five weeks earlier. In contrast, other statements about the raid—such as one from Mayor Tom Potter—were issued in the first few days.

According to the task force's June 19 meeting minutes, the group, whose goal is to examine immigrants' access to local government and "inclusion in civic life," debated whether or not to even issue a statement. Members raised concerns such as whether "getting deep into politics (by issuing a statement) might discredit the task force," according to the notes.

"Some task force members emphasized how events such as the ICE raids can pit immigrants against each other, as seemed to be happening within the task force itself," the minutes noted.

Task Force member Alice Perry, however, says that discussion did not ultimately delay the statement—logistics held it up. "We understood that [timeliness was an issue] going into the process, but we are a committee that only meets once a month and there's a process we have to go through," she said, explaining that the task force agreed to send out a statement once they saw a draft via email, soon after the June 19 meeting.

The statement ultimately said, in part: "The Immigrant and Refugee Task Force is both disappointed and saddened by the recent immigration raid at Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc., which has driven an unnecessary wedge between communities in Portland." AMY J. RUIZ

RACIAL PROFILING PROGRESS

The mayor's Racial Profiling Committee appears to finally be making progress—meeting for its second four-hour session last Thursday, July 19. The group is now working in three subcommittees: Policy and Practices, looking at how the police can eliminate or contribute to racial profiling; Data Collection & Analysis, with the goal of establishing a methodology for collecting and analyzing data to measure racial bias, and measure progress over time; and Community & Police Interactions, which aims to build a bridge of trust between community and police. MATT DAVIS