By Jeff Reynold
In the wake of the brutal rape of a 65-year-old woman in Portland, Ore., by an illegal alien drug addict, multiple media outlets have requested comments from Oregon public officials regarding their continued support for sanctuary state and sanctuary city policies. All of these requests have been blown off by elected officials.
First, it was reported by Kerry Picket at The Daily Caller that Ron Wyden, Oregon’s Democratic senator, refused comment on the story:
Wyden refused to answer The Daily Caller’s questions about the illegal immigrant accused of raping a 65-year-old woman at her Portland home and assaulting another female in the area. Portland is a sanctuary city.
“We’ll have more to say about that another time. Today is about taxes,” Wyden said, before he veered off to discuss issues pertaining to the Russia investigation.
I reached out to the offices of Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Oregon Governor Kate Brown. In the case of Brown, I left multiple voice mails with several of the press secretaries listed on her website. I also emailed. I told them that I was seeking comment from the governor’s office regarding this case and inquiring whether they felt like recent policies strengthening Oregon’s prohibitions against cooperating with ICE were partly responsible for Sergio Jose Hernandez being set loose in the Portland community. I advised that I wanted them to have an opportunity to address this situation for the column I was writing. Four voicemails and two emails over a 48 hour period.
Crickets.
When I reached out to Ted Wheeler’s office, I was pleasantly surprised to get a call back from his comms director, Michael Cox. I emailed and called twice, and the second time I left a voicemail I got a call back within ten minutes. I explained the whole thing to him, and he told me that he was working on a statement that he would clear with “the big guy” before sending it to me. He assured me the statement would be available by 5 p.m. Wednesday, and said he would email it directly to me.
As of this writing, I have received nothing, and there’s been nothing in the press.
It’s not like Wheeler has been on vacation. A quick Google search shows he’s been all over the news making statements about issues he cares about, like blocking fossil fuel shipping terminals in Portland, developing a new African-American center in North Portland, and rent control.
Could it be that the subject of a rape that occurred in part due to sanctuary city policies was too uncomfortable to address? Is it possible that these Social Justice Warrior elected officials can’t square their policies with the reality of their consequences?
Meanwhile, Kate Brown has been too busy signing into law a new expansion of free abortions at any stage of pregnancy for everyone in Oregon — including illegal aliens. She’s barely noticed what’s actually happening on the streets of her city of residence.
It is impossible to escape the conclusion that Oregon officials don’t want to be held accountable for their refusal to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).