I’m arguing that the enforcement of one law (the immediate effects of which I believe are insignificant, specifically that the inoperability of the ICE office costs the city relatively little) places the police contradictory at the least to the spirit of the law barring cooperation with immigration enforcement (which, in my opinion, is quite costly to the city and its residents.)
As others have noted, differing priorities can and do create differing enforcement levels. Micro, police officers have great latitude in choosing how they process instances of illegality. I’ve definitely buzzed past speed traps going ten over the limit and been allowed to fuck off on my merry way. I’ve been cuffed and let go because another crime happened to occur in the moment. There are likely objective reasons to these instances, i.e. the speed trap was looking for those doing 15 over or more, or for the latter it was probably because somebody set a police car on fire. In these moments, police officers ignore an illegal act in order to direct their efforts elsewhere.
From the macro perspective, the PPD as a whole stood down to the taking of highways and bridges in the protests immediately following Trump’s election. Then-mayor Hales defended the decision purely on subjective grounds-
When the protests first began on Election Night, the Police Bureau, with direction from the mayor, took a "hands-off’’ and "light touch’’ approach to the demonstrators, Marshman said. They ended up on two nights roaming onto Interstate 5 and walking in both southbound and northbound lanes.
He told the mayor he was uncomfortable allowing protesters to reach the freeways, he said, but the mayor disagreed.
"The first night, we thought there’s just a lot of emotion in the country. Just let them go out and voice their concerns and vent and keep our fingers crossed it’s peaceful and kind of watch from afar,‘’ the chief said. "We let that happen and that was a conscious choice of mine and the mayor’s office.‘’
(from this blog post at the Oregonian which also includes various quotes from disgraced ex-chief Marshman that reek of his general incompetence)
Those protests were certainly more disruptive to public order than this action, and yet, they proved quite capable to
As I’m sure that the Department of Transportation has something to say about the matter…
Although I suppose Hales and Marshman weren’t too concerned with upsetting Secretary Foxx.
I was thinking more like the mayor sending a polite letter to ICE Director Homan informing him that the PPD’s budget for trespass enforcement is worn to thin from shuttling houseless folks from one area of the city to the next.
Do these things punish people solely because of the randomness of their place of birth? Otherwise I don’t see the similarity, philosophically speaking.
Eh, I’ll settle for a political social structure that actually functions as a democracy.
