Oregon Public Broadcasting

Friday, a judge in Columbia County will hear a challenge to a new law that bars the hiring of illegal immigrants. 

Voters in the county passed Measure 5-190 last November. And as April Baer reports, the legal challenge is a test --  of both public sentiment, and the county's powers of enforcement.

It wasn't Columbia County's idea  to start policing immigration issues. County Counsel Sarah Hanson explains.

Sarah Hanson: "...voters approved it, I believe by 57 percent, and that is why the county is involved."

The hiring ban is patterned after an Arizona law.   The Columbia County law is known around town by its ballot identifier:  M  5-190. It calls for investigations into any company that intentionally employs undocumented workers, and mandates a series of punishments.

On paper, the county is now authorized to levy $10,000 fines, and yank licenses and building permits from contractors found in violation.

The ballot measure was conceived by a local contractor and sometime activist, Wayne Mayo.

The hiring ban breezed through despite very little money, and relatively little campaigning.

But even though voters approved it by a wide margin,  the community's not unanimously in favor of implementing  the new law.

Pat Zimmerman   "I have a good friend who runs a small construction-related business, and he voted for it! And we've argued about it, or talked about it."

Pat Zimmerman is a retired Intel executive who's  lived in Columbia County for thirty years.

She meets her friend Judy Litwin every Wednesday at Scappoose's Coffee Bar. This week, they're talking about M 5-190.  Zimmerman says she understands her construction friend's concern about undocumented immigration.

Pat Zimmerman    "His point is that he pays his people well. He has to compete with other people in the same business who are hiring undocumenteds and paying them terrible wages. and not giving them benefits, and doing all the things you can do when you have someone who cannot complain. He thinks that's unfair. He thinks something's got to be done."

But Zimmerman feels strongly that the county is not the instrument to take on immigration. For one thing she says the county is not in a financial position to create entirely new structures to handle immigration cases.  

Judy Litwin shares her friend's worry over enforcement, but she has another issue.

Judy Litwin: "I guess my major concern with the whole thing is it's calling on Scappoose people to look upon other Scappoose people  and turn them in because of the way they look, and the way they sound."

She describes herself as someone who has a more conservative view on immigration.

She believes adamantly that people should not be allowed in the county in violation of the law. But she doesn't like the policing mechanisms set up in 5-190.

Litwin and Zimmerman have signed on as plaintiffs in the case that will be heard Friday morning, challenging the premises of the hiring ban. 

Everyone from the County Sheriff to the Commissioners have expressed concerns about how much the county can take on. 

Several prior legal actions have been rolled into this one case. The plaintiffs have the backing of the ACLU of Oregon, and the Northwest Workers' Justice Project.

Right now the case is a matter between the court and the plaintiffs.

The measure's sponsor Wayne Mayo, is not part of the case -- yet.  Mayo has said repeatedly that if the county fails to enforce the new law, he'll come back with a legal challenge, or a new and improved ballot measure.

County Counsel Sarah Hanson says the Commissioners have no desire to flout the will of the voters.

Sarah Hanson   "I think the county's position is to take it day by day. When we have some answers out of the court, we'll be in a better position to decide what specific steps need to be taken.    Some of the questions that are going to be resolved revolve around whether or not we can enforce within the city limits of the cities within Columbia County. That's going to make a big difference on how we implement."

Hanson says  the county has traditionally not enforced very many laws across its constituent cities. Also, it's not clear whether the County Justice Court has jurisdiction to take up immigration matters.

These are just a sample of the issues Judge Ted Grove will be asked to unravel Friday.