Fox News commentator Neil Cavuto said Friday that Oregon is "a mecca for illegals," even though the state is estimated to be home to only 3.2 percent of the nation's undocumented immigrants.
Cavuto's comment came during an interview with Rep. Sal Esquivel, R-Medford, who appeared on "Your World with Neil Cavuto" to talk about his legislation that would repeal Oregon's long-standing sanctuary state law and make English the state's official language.
A 2014 study from the Pew Research Center found that Oregon is home to an estimated 130,000 undocumented immigrants, compared to 250,000 in Washington and 2.3 million in California. The study found that Oregon was one of 14 states where populations of undocumented immigrants actually declined from 2009 to 2012.
"How did Oregon get to be such a mecca for illegals?" Cavuto asked Esquivel. "I mean it's one thing for a city or a couple of cities, but the whole darn state?"
Esquivel responded by saying that the Oregon's Democratic lawmakers passed the sanctuary state law in 1987. Efforts to repeal it always "go down in flames," he said, "but at least we make a statement."
Cavuto pushed the question again. "But how do they get away with it?" he said, adding that President Donald Trump could try to pull federal funds from states that don't cooperate with immigration officials.
"That's the problem here Neil, is the Democrats that are running the show have elected to play kind of a who's-going-to-blink-first with President Trump because 32 percent of our budget is federal money," Esquivel said.
Esquivel told Cavuto that even if his bills made it through the Democrat-controlled state House and Senate, Gov. Kate Brown would likely veto them.
"So why are you doing it?" Cavuto asked.
"I just go up to Salem to do my job. I don't worry about keeping it," Esquivel said. "It's the right thing to do."
Esquivel has already announced that he will not seek re-election in 2018.
-- Gordon R. Friedman
gfriedman@oregonian.com; 503-221-8209
@GordonRFriedman
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