Washington County agencies received more federal immigration enforcement requests than any other county in Oregon over the past year, accounting for 87 of the 329 statewide contacts logged in a state report released July 2.
The Oregon Criminal Justice Commission's fifth annual Sanctuary Promise Legislative Report found that Washington County Jail alone fielded 79 requests from federal immigration authorities between June 1, 2025, and May 31, 2026. The Washington County Sheriff's Office reported six requests, Washington County Community Corrections reported one, and the Beaverton Police Department reported one.
Statewide, the 329 requests represent a 246% jump from the prior year's 95.
Washington County Jail serves the broader county, but the concentration of requests is relevant to Beaverton, where about 19.4% of roughly 98,000 residents are foreign-born, according to U.S. Census estimates. That translates to approximately 19,000 people.
Oregon first enacted a sanctuary law in 1987, the first state in the nation to do so. The current Sanctuary Promise Act, passed in 2021, prohibits public agencies from collecting information about a person's immigration status and directs them to decline cooperation with federal immigration authorities unless they have a judicial order signed by a judge.
Of the 329 requests statewide, 180 involved immigration detainers. Only four public bodies reported fulfilling a federal request. One involved a grand jury subpoena; another involved a detainer paired with a federal arrest warrant signed by a judge.
At least two agencies statewide provided information to federal authorities under an administrative warrant signed by immigration officials rather than a judicial warrant, according to the Oregon Capital Chronicle's reporting on the CJC data.
That distinction matters: administrative warrants do not meet the judicial-order threshold Oregon law requires.
The CJC report cites two White House executive orders as context for the surge. Executive Order 14159, signed January 20, 2025, revoked prior immigration protections and expanded national enforcement.
Executive Order 14287, signed April 28, 2025, directed further identification and penalization of "sanctuary jurisdictions."
ICE was involved in 47% of the 329 reported requests. Other Department of Homeland Security components, excluding ICE and USCIS, accounted for 41%, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for 12%.
Gov. Tina Kotek and Attorney General Dan Rayfield signaled support for updating the sanctuary law in May 2026, according to the Oregon Capital Chronicle, including potentially empowering the attorney general to sue agencies that violate it.
Under current law, the attorney general cannot compel agencies to respond to inquiries or file suit over alleged violations.
The CJC report does not offer recommendations on how to prevent future violations.
The Oregon Department of Justice operates a Sanctuary Promise Hotline for reporting suspected violations of the state's sanctuary law. The hotline is staffed by bilingual and multilingual advocates, with interpretation available in more than 240 languages.
The Beaverton Police Department, Washington County Sheriff's Office, and Washington County Board of Commissioners have not publicly commented on the report's findings.
No scheduled discussion on sanctuary law compliance at the county level has been announced. Residents can monitor the Washington County Board of Commissioners' public meeting calendar for future agenda items.
