Editor’s Note: On Feb. 17, Springfield City Councilor Kori Rodley of Ward 1 addressed the council and the audience during a regular meeting. This came in response to residents who urged city officials to issue proclamations or statements regarding ICE’s federal immigration enforcement tactics in their city. Below are excerpts from her speech.
I want to acknowledge how difficult the past several months have been for so many of our Springfield neighbors, and I wanted to name it and say it out loud from this side of the dais. And I also want to say that not everyone is experiencing these turbulent times in the same way, and that is part of what has challenged us as policymakers. How do we listen, serve, and protect everyone who has chosen to live here and contribute to this community? How do we ensure that all the voices, the loud, the passionate, and the quiet and timid, are heard and considered?
We talk about different populations of people like they are completely separate communities: the business community, the immigrant community, the LGBTQI+ community. While we might have different experiences and different identities, we are all living here together in this community, and many of us embrace multiple identities.
Many immigrant neighbors are also small business owners. People live in Springfield and work in another community, or they work in Springfield. They have students in Springfield schools, and they live elsewhere. We are all invested and care, but we aren’t all feeling the same levels of safety and opportunity.
And as a city council, we have not yet made any declarations or statements regarding ICE activity in our neighborhoods, although we have done, as a City, tangible operational things; setting up the resource page, ensuring our police department follows state sanctuary promise laws, and encouraging Team Springfield partners to reiterate our community values on belonging.
For example, several people in organizations have passionately advocated for declarations and statements. There have also been many people who are advocating for different approaches, including immigrant families who do not want us to bring exaggerated attention to immigration status. We have not been as quick to declare emergencies or put outrage on paper as others have, and I hear that criticism.
Speaking for myself, this is not due to a lack of concern or frustration. It is because I genuinely want to do whatever it takes to meaningfully improve my neighbors’ lives. I want to make things better and not worse. I want to mitigate any backlash or misunderstandings and consider the authentic needs of those most impacted, not just those with the loudest voices.
Here is what I know: the divisive federal overreach, the threats and attacks on LGBTQI folks– particularly transgender people, the presence of federal agents causing fear and violence and undermining community safety for black and brown people, the chaos, the loss, the grief as well as the economic impacts, are all real, and they are all being felt here in Springfield.
And for me, this is heartbreaking, it’s infuriating, and it’s unacceptable. Children are unable to go to school. People are losing work, their livelihoods, and access to connection and community. There is a growing distrust of local public safety. We are not at our best as a city when we are facing these overwhelming challenges.
I am very interested in working with my council colleagues to continue exploring the strongest and most useful ways for us to respond, acknowledging that things are changing and evolving rapidly. I also want to encourage people who can to continue those peaceful protests, the mutual aid, checking in on neighbors, fighting for the rights, safety, and community that we all deserve.
I have been at protests, vigils, and marches. My spouse and I made contributions to trusted organizations working directly with populations being targeted, and I have been advocating with state and federal policymakers on many of the same issues many of you are. I am also supporting the Oregon Immigrant Justice Package, which aims to reinforce the sanctuary state status we already uphold here by providing legal representation, housing, and food aid to immigrant communities.
There is no single right way to show up in this moment; it will take all of us doing whatever we can and putting the needs of those most impacted at the heart of the fight. This is not a time for easy political wins or posturing, but for truly, authentically digging in and showing up in public behind the scenes, through action and policy, and prioritizing resources. This is a big, hard, risky, and painful time, and I truly believe that, as Springfield residents, we will show up for each other. We just need to take some time and work on it together.
Elyse Ditzel, public information officer with the city manager’s office, in February told The Chronicle that “Springfield is committed to being a safe, welcoming community for all. We believe in a city where everyone is valued, treated with dignity, and able to participate fully in community life regardless of background, identity, or immigration status.
“Oregon state law (ORS 181A.820) makes clear that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. In alignment with this law, the Springfield Police Department does not engage in federal immigration enforcement or participate in ICE operations.
“We understand that federal immigration activity can cause fear and uncertainty. Our role as a local government is to remain transparent, uphold the law, and support the well-being of all our neighbors,” Ditzel said.
