News Articles, Op-eds, and Letters

A McMinnville man is helping lead a drive to force referral to voters of Senate Bill 833, which gives driving privileges to people who are here illegally. The bill is slated to go into effect Jan. 1, unless referendum backers can head it off.

The campaign is being directed by Oregonians for Immigration Reform, based in Salem. Co-founded by McMinnville resident Jim Ludwick, it needs to gather at least 58,000 valid signatures by Oct. 4 to force an election.

"We think it’s wrong, and we believe Oregonians...

A group opposed to a new state law that grants driver's cards to undocumented immigrants says members are well on their way to collecting enough signatures – and then some – to refer the law to voters for the next general election.

The organization, which calls itself Protect Oregon Driver Licenses, has two weeks left to collect the signatures of at least 58,142 registered voters in order to meet ballot requirements.
 

Read more about SB833 - driver licenses for illegal aliens.

It’s good to see The Register-Guard recognizes the plight of low-wage workers ("Fast food blues," Sept. 2). However, the editorial seemed a bit disingenuous given the editors’ strong support of government actions that will or would hurt those same workers.

I refer first to U.S. Senate Bill 744, the immigration "reform" legislation, about which columnist Eugene Robinson said, "Of course it’s amnesty." SB 744 would allow millions more foreign workers to come to the United States and would effectively legalize the work of the 8 million to 10 million illegal immigrants who are already...

In an attempt to bolster his standing with Hispanics in the last election, President Barack Obama issued an executive form of the Dream Act. He did it by fiat, and this unwise act will remain in effect until a federal court overturns it.

In Oregon, the president's political idiocy was compounded by Gov. John Kitzhaber. Kitzhaber boarded the president's bandwagon and began an effort to grant driving privileges to beneficiaries of Obama's questionable dream act. Then the Oregon Legislature passed a bill, SB 833, the governor signed it and the process of putting illegal aliens...

Earlier this year, in a Jan. 13 commentary in this newspaper, I argued that granting driving privileges to foreigners here illegally would make our state "a magnet for illegal immigrants competing for work with Oregon’s unemployed, and a virtually unimpeded conduit for Mexican drugs."

But Oregon’s legislators didn’t listen. In this year’s session, they passed a law (Senate Bill 833) granting "driver cards" to illegal immigrants.

Now, a group of Oregonians organized as "Protect Oregon Driver Licenses" — for which I serve as a chief sponsor — is circulating petitions to put SB...

A group of volunteers, whose goal is to overturn a new Oregon law granting driver-privilege cards to residents without documentation, hustled Friday to avoid creating gridlock for drivers wanting to sign their petition to let voters decide the law’s fate.

Cars were lined two deep on both sides of cones arranged by Oregonians for Immigration Reform in a parking lot on Market Street and Savage Road NE from noon to 8 p.m., said Cynthia Kendoll, president of the group. "There was very little lull," she added of the drive-through effort to collect signatures in the shadow of a Dairy...

SALEM, Ore. – A group trying to gather enough signatures in an effort to put the new driver card law on the November 2014 ballot before it begins is using a cue from fast-food restaurants.

The driver cards will allow people to drive who can't prove U.S. citizenship.

The group, Oregonians for Immigration Reform, hoped that Friday's "drive-thru democracy" would make it convenient for voters to sign their petition, because they need a lot of signatures – more than 58,000 by Oct. 4.

So on Friday, not far off Interstate 5, several volunteers brought petition sheets to the...

A group dedicated to overturning a new Oregon law that grants driver-privilege cards to people without conventional documentation has come up with a quick way to gather petition signatures.

It’s encouraging motorists to participate in drive-through democracy.

"You don’t even need to get out of your car," said Jim Ludwick, the group’s communications director. "Just drive up, sign the petition and drive away."

From noon to 8 p.m. today, Oregonians for Immigration Reform will set up cones and signs in a parking lot near its billboard at Market Street and Savage Road NE,...

In a desperate attempt to bolster his standing with Hispanics in the last election, President Barack Obama issued an executive form of the Dream Act. He did it by fiat, because Congress wasn’t foolish enough to do it legislatively. Unfortunately, this unwise act of the president’s will remain in effect until a federal court overturns it.

In Oregon, the president’s idiocy was compounded by the unimaginative and pathetic pathological follower, Gov. John Kitzhaber.

Kitzhaber boarded the president’s...

Should Oregon give official driving privileges to illegal aliens? In passing SB 833 last May, the Legislature said yes, but many concerned citizens said then and still say, no way.

A referendum effort could put the question on the ballot in November 2014, enabling voters to overturn SB 833. To learn more, download a single-signature sheet or request forms for collecting signatures at www.protectoregondl.org.

Sponsors of the petition are Rep. Kim Thatcher (R-Keizer), Rep. Sal Esquivel (R-Medford) and Richard LaMountain of Portland, vice president of...