Francisco Aguirre Credit: Courtesy of VOZ Workers' Rights Education Project
Francisco Aguirre
  • Courtesy of VOZ Workers’ Rights Education Project
  • Francisco Aguirre

Mayor Charlie Hales has now joined a chorus of local advocates calling on federal agents to turn their attentions away from a longtime fixture in Portland’s day laborer community.

Last Friday, Francisco Aguirre, an organizer and founder VOZ Workers’ Rights Education Project, spotted agents with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) outside his Fairview home, according to a VOZ spokesman. The agents asked Aguirre to step outside, but he refused. The authorities, without a warrant allowing them to force their way inside, eventually left.

“It wasn’t really clear what they were there for,” VOZ spokesman Ranfis Villatoro said last week. “Francisco believes that he would be a low priority for the administration to deport him. Currently his immigration attorney is trying to determine the purpose of ICE at his household.”

The incident spurred a flurry of e-mails from VOZ, which held a press conference in a Northeast Portland church where Aguirre sought sanctuary, calling on ICE to leave the man alone while he applies for a fresh visa. ICE, in response, issued a statement saying Aguirre was deported in 2000 after being convicted of drug trafficking charges, and was arrested recently in Clackamas County on suspicion of DUI, according to the Oregonian.

Hales had his say this afternoon, issuing a statement calling Aguirre “a community leader” and “important voice on issues of equity and immigrant rights.”

“While immigration is a federal issue, I believe Francisco should remain in the United States, and in Portland, until his case can reach a humane conclusion,” Hales said.

Born in El Salvador, Aguirre worked as a day laborer himself before transitioning to advocacy, Villatoro said. He’s worked with day laborers for more than a decade, according to his bio on the VOZ website. He currently coordinates jobs for workers who show up at the Martin Luther King Jr. Worker Center.

“He’s part of our community,” Villatoro said. “He’s been part of our community for the last 20 years.”

Advocates are asking supporters to phone up ICE and Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts, who they blame for sharing news of Aguirre’s recent arrest with the feds. They’re also calling on lawmen like Roberts to more-fully sever their ties with ICE.

In April, a judge’s ruling forced Roberts to stop holding suspected undocumented immigrants at ICE’s request. Other Oregon counties quickly followed suit.

“While the new policy change eliminates ICE holds within Clackamas and Multnomah Counties, we believe that our local law enforcement should not be sharing information with ICE, as so many jurisdictions have already done all over the United States,” VOZ said in a statement.

I'm a news reporter for the Mercury. I've spent a lot of the last decade in journalism — covering tragedy and chicanery in the hills of southwest Missouri, politics in Washington, D.C., and other matters...

8 replies on “Mayor Charlie Hales Says ICE Should Leave a Local Immigrants’ Rights Advocate Alone”

  2. The city of Portland has helped pay for this illegal’s salary, even though he has no right to work in this country. The drugs he sold probably went to children. He was lucky he didn’t kill anybody while drunk driving. I say deport him and have street car Charlie go too. When are Portland voters going to wake up? We need adults in charge!

  4. Mr. Aguirre is an incredibly brave man who also happens to be a strong voice for the working class and the rights of undocumented in this country. His organization fights exploitation and seeks to protect those most vulnerable to corporate oppression of migrant workers. It’s a shame so many big, strong Oregonians tremble in fear at the very mention of his name. The real enemy is not the undocumented, it is the system that has turned innocent people into criminals who can be easily exploited for maximum profits by those in power. Wake up. Your life will not improve by listening to a corporate media that profits from telling you what to be afraid of and whom to hate.

  5. don’t_worry_I’m_wrong, so you call him an incredibly brave man, was he brave for selling drugs to children in your community? Was he brave for helping illegals get work from contractors who should be hiring legal citizens? Was he brave for committing a federal crime by reentering this country after doing jail time and getting kicked out? Was he brave for using someone else’s social security number? Was he brave for drunk driving and never killing anyone by his actions? Is he brave for hiding in a church and not facing responsibility for his actions?

  6. He’s brave for coming from a land of such violence to a land with people like you Andy who are so cold they have forgotten how their parents got here. Unless you are Native you too are an immigrant. You can’t keep this country just for you and people like you, but you can keep your hate filled life, but one day you will lose that too. Unconditional love WILL have the last word. Reward yourselves with honor friends and stand up for ALL people no matter where they were born or what they have done in the past. Let hate shrivel away and let love bloom.

  8. Hey Jimmy,
    When you say that I should “stand up for ALL people no matter where they were born or what they have done in the past”, then I should forget the sins of Osama bin Laden, Hitler, Stalin, Castro, Che Guevara and others? You are fucking retarded!

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