Gov. Tina Kotek was among dozens of elected officials throughout the country that received a warning from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi this week, as she continues to proclaim support for sanctuary laws that have rankled the Trump administration.
In letters that went out Thursday, Bondi said sanctuary jurisdictions could lose federal funding, and officials there could face criminal prosecution, if the Justice Department determines they are unlawfully impeding federal immigration enforcement.
“This ends now,” Bondi wrote, directing states to signal a commitment to eliminate sanctuary policies by Aug. 19 or prepare to face consequences.
“Any sanctuary jurisdiction that continues to put illegal aliens ahead of American citizens can either come to the table or see us in court,” Bondi wrote on the social media platform X on Thursday.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson’s office would not comment on whether it had received the same missive. Portland has a sanctuary policy and is on the DOJ’s list of sanctuary jurisdictions.
“Our legal team is reviewing incoming correspondence and we’ll hold off on commenting at this time,” said Cody Bowman, a spokesman for Wilson. “We’ll be in touch once we’re able to share an update.”
The U.S. Department of Justice did not respond Friday to OPB’s request for copies of letters that may have been sent to Oregon and Washington.
Oregon and Portland have policies on books barring local and state public employees from working with federal agents to enforce immigration law. That’s put both in the DOJ’s crosshairs as it works to identify sanctuary jurisdictions around the country.
Oregon is the oldest sanctuary state in the country, and since 1987 has served as a model for others. After Trump was first elected in 2016, Oregonians voted to keep the law in place, and state lawmakers have since strengthened it.
The state now blocks local jails from contracting with federal immigration enforcement to hold detainees.
The new correspondence from Bondi should come as no surprise. In April, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the DOJ to identify sanctuary jurisdictions and any federal funding to those places that could be terminated.
At the time, both Kotek and Wilson said they had no intention of altering the policies.
In February, Portland joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s threat to pull funding from sanctuary jurisdictions.
“As a sanctuary city, we are focused on making Portland a safe, welcoming place for all community members,” said Wilson at the time. “We object to the federal government attempting to defund public safety, infrastructure and other critical services in our city.”
Kotek has said Oregon “will not be bullied to deport people or perform immigration enforcement.”
“Oregon state sanctuary laws do not obstruct the immigration efforts which are the responsibility of the federal government,” she said in April.
OPB reporters Alex Zielinski and Conrad Wilson contributed to this story.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.