Oregon voters overwhelming reject Measure 105

By Cristina Marquez

On November 6, Oregon voters overwhelmingly rejected Measure 105, an attempt to throw out Oregon’s 31-year-old sanctuary law.

When the anti-immigrant group qualified a measure for the ballot, the first thing I thought about was my family. Their lives were on the line with Measure 105. So were the lives of my friends, my colleagues, and my immigrant community.

Measure 105 was a statement by this hate group that people like me aren’t welcome here. That I wasn’t an Oregonian. And I know I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

The No on 105 vote was a huge turnaround for the immigrant justice movement in Oregon. In 2014, Oregonians repealed a law that would have provided temporary driver’s cards to undocumented Oregonians.

Following the 2014 vote, Causa, APANO, Unite Oregon, Basic Rights Oregon, and Oregon Voice founded the One Oregon Coalition to build a long-term movement for immigrant justice. Within two years, the coalition grew to nearly 100 groups across Oregon. Nearly all these partners came out against Measure 105, giving the No on 105 campaign a big lift.”

From there, the coalition grew exponentially:

  • More than 500 endorsers joined our effort including law enforcement, labor, small and large businesses, advocacy organizations, and frontline communities.
  • We built one of the largest and most inclusive campaign teams in Oregon history, led by people of color, women, LGBTQ folks, and immigrants and children of immigrants.
  • We raised money from more than 1,500 individual donors across the state.
  • We filled more than 5,000 volunteer shifts.
  • We knocked on nearly half a million doors through a unified strategy.
  • We organized volunteers everywhere from Hermiston to Bend to Eugene, Astoria, Ontario — places all across the state.”

And most importantly, in this campaign, we shared our stories of struggle and resilience and we changed hearts and minds – showing the nation that in Oregon we believe in fairness and we welcome immigrants.

What I’m most proud about is how my family and my community came forward. My mom appeared in an ad. Even my 6-year-old sister went canvassing. This victory was a community effort. We worked night and day to change the hearts and minds of Oregonians and today we succeeded!

Oregon has a long way to go until immigrants have the opportunities and resources needed to thrive, but we are one big step closer, and defeating Measure 105 is a huge step forward.

President Trump isn’t backing down, and we can’t either. Please commit to staying with us to continue this work.

Working together is essential to defeating Trump and his allies.  We could not have done it without you.

Thank you for bringing us to victory.

Cristina Marquez served as the No on 105 campaign manager. Cristina is pictured with Rocky Barilla, the Oregon legislator who carried the bill in 1987.

 

 

 

 

2018-11-21T19:24:46+00:00 November 21st, 2018|Stories|0 Comments

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