We serve everyone
No matter where you were born, what language you speak, your race, ethnicity, or immigration status, you belong here. The City of Portland is committed to serving all our residents with dignity, respect, and safety.
If someone in your family has been detained by ICE, or you witnessed an ICE raid, call the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition Hotline at 1-888-622-1510. (Available 24/7, with language support.)
Portland is a sanctuary city and Oregon is a sanctuary state. We want everyone in our community to know their rights and to feel safe and protected.
Know your rights
Everyone has rights, regardless of immigration status.
- Find "Know Your Rights" red cards in multiple languages.
- Learn about Oregon's Sanctuary Promise Act.
- Contact Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition at 1-888-622-1510 to report ICE activity.
- Call the Sanctuary Promise Hotline.
- Learn about the Portland Police Bureau and immigration enforcement.
- Learn about how Portland supports immigrants and refugees.
What is a sanctuary city?
The City Council officially codified Portland's sanctuary city status October 15, 2025, by unanimously approving the Denounce any attempts to deploy the United States Armed Forces, the National Guard, or militarized Federal Immigration Enforcement in Portland and establish the Protect Portland Initiative. The ordinance:
- Prohibits all City employees from assisting any federal agency with immigration enforcement
- Prohibits City resources to be used for such purpose
- Requires the creation of policies, trainings, and resources to guide how the City must handle interactions with immigration enforcement agents
- Requires the posting of signage to clarify public/private spaces
- Requires Portland Police Bureau to report any exceptions to or violations of the prohibition on assisting with immigration enforcement activities
- Directs the City to place Freedom of Information Act Requests to DHS and ICE
- Directs the Office of Government Relations to advocate for Congress to pass legislation that would increase federal safeguards for respecting the civil rights and protecting the public safety of our community
There’s an important limit: state and federal law override this declaration. If there’s a conflict between being a sanctuary city and state or federal law, we have to comply with the law.
Also, the federal government has jurisdiction to operate lawfully in Portland. That means ICE is allowed to enforce immigration law inside the city limits. The City cannot interfere with their work.
Learn more about the Portland Police Bureau and immigration enforcement.
Learn more about how Portland supports immigrants and refugees.
Why are we a sanctuary city?
We know the overwhelming majority of immigrants are peaceful, law-abiding people who work long hours to build a better life for themselves and their families. In fact, our economy depends on them. In the Portland-Vancouver metro area, immigrants make up 15% of the workforce, 19% of entrepreneurs, 19% of STEM workers, 13% of nurses, 31% of health aides, and spend $12.4 billion every year, including $5 billion in taxes, according to the American Community Survey.
Immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born U.S. citizens, according to a 2022 study funded by the National Institute of Justice. The study looked at crime rates in Texas from 2012-18. The study found that U.S.-born citizens represented 88.6% of felony arrests, legal immigrants represented 8.7%, and undocumented immigrants represented less than 3%.
The study also found that native-born US citizens were twice as likely to be arrested for violent crime, twice as likely to be arrested for drug violations, almost twice as likely for traffic violations, and four times as likely to be arrested for property crime. Undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born U.S. citizens.
City Council has decided to focus the city's resources on protecting the health and safety of our community, instead of enforcing immigration law, which is the responsibility of the federal government.
Do sanctuary laws protect criminals?
No, sanctuary laws do not protect criminals. Sanctuary laws don’t interfere with or impede arrest and prosecution of people who commit crimes.
Studies show that sanctuary laws do not lead to increased crime rates. In fact, sanctuary laws improve public safety by reducing fear. Our sanctuary declaration helps everyone in Portland feel safe interacting with police officers, regardless of their immigration status.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that enforcing immigration law is the job of the federal government, not cities like Portland. Federal courts have repeatedly ruled that sanctuary laws are constitutional.
Sanctuary timeline
- 1987: Oregon is the first state in the nation to pass a law preventing state and local police and government from helping federal authorities with immigration enforcement.
- 2017: The City Council passes a resolution affirming that Portland is a sanctuary city, which means that the City does not use City funds, personnel or equipment to assist with federal immigration enforcement except to the extent required by law.
- 2017: President Donald Trump signs Executive Order 13768, seeking to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities. Federal judges eventually declare this order unlawful and restore the funding.
- 2021: Oregon passes the Sanctuary Promise Act. This law limits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.
- January 2025: President Donald Trump takes office for the second time. He signs Executive Order 14159, directing federal agencies to withhold funding from sanctuary cities. In response, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson reaffirms Portland’s status as a sanctuary city.
- February 2025: Portland joins a coalition of sanctuary cities to sue the Trump Administration for cutting off funds from them.
- April 2025: A federal judge halts the Trump Administration’s “arbitrary and capricious” orders that jeopardize millions in critical federal grants to Portland and other sanctuary cities.
- June 2025: Portland’s leaders reaffirm Portland's status as a Sanctuary City.
- July 2025: A federal judge upholds sanctuary laws in Illinois, Chicago, and Cook County and strikes down an effort by the Trump Administration to block them.
- October 2025: Portland City Council unanimously approves the Denounce any attempts to deploy the United States Armed Forces, the National Guard, or militarized Federal Immigration Enforcement in Portland and establish the Protect Portland Initiative.
Learn more about Portland's evolving partnership with the federal government: