The Marion County Sheriff’s Office received more federal requests to help with immigration enforcement than any other Oregon law enforcement agency over the last year, a new state report shows.

Federal authorities requested Marion County’s assistance 38 times between June 2024 and May 2025. That’s out of 95 total requests across the state.

Twenty-five requests were directed to the sheriff’s office, while 13 were to the jail, which the sheriff’s office also runs.

The report was published July 1 by the state Criminal Justice Commission.

READ IT: 2025 CJC sanctuary report

In the last year, the majority of requests were for immigration detainers which hold people in jail for two days after their scheduled release date so federal agents can arrive to take custody of them. There were 58 detainer requests statewide in the report’s time frame.

The second most frequent request, with 28, was for information, including a person’s immigration status, their jail release date or details of their arrest.

Oregon’s so-called sanctuary law bars law enforcement agencies from assisting in immigration enforcement or providing information on someone in custody to federal immigration authorities unless ordered to do so by a judge. They are allowed to share publicly available information with immigration authorities.

Commission data shows the sheriff’s office cooperated with a request in January, but the sheriff’s office told Salem Reporter this was an error and it did not cooperate.

On Jan. 29, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement asked the Marion County Sheriff’s Office to hold someone in jail after their release date.

According to Sgt. Jeremy Schwab, spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, the agency did not cooperate with ICE and reported the request to the commission.

An entry on the commission’s sanctuary dashboard states Marion County did not respond to ICE’s request, but that a “parole officer gave ICE the release date,” for someone in custody and had no contact with them after their release.

“In a review of the specific request, we determined this to be an error in reporting,” Schwab said in an email. “Internal documentation is consistent with the denial of the request facilitated through the non-release of information.”

It’s not clear why Marion County is such a hotspot for immigration enforcement requests. The county has a large population of agricultural and food processing workers, many of whom are immigrants. But reported requests to Marion County far outstrip those in Multnomah County, which has more than double the population, or Washington County, which is more populous and also has a large agricultural workforce.

Kelly Officer, research director for the Criminal Justice Commission, said the commission collects the data from agencies but doesn’t “have a way to verify if reports are missing.”

Schwab didn’t have an explanation for the high number beyond saying the agency follows state reporting requirements.

ICE did not respond to questions about the large number of federal requests sent to Marion County.

Lane and Jackson counties are behind Marion County with nine requests each. Polk County has received two immigration assistance requests in the last year, both in 2025. The county didn’t cooperate with either.

The commission’s report showed a large increase in federal requests for immigration assistance in Oregon since President Donald Trump took office. The agency has published an annual report since a 2021 law required public agencies in Oregon to report such requests to the state.

Marion County reported one request for federal immigration enforcement in 2023 and none in 2024 and 2022.

Of the 95 immigration requests made in the past year, 73 have been since Trump took office. Oregon law enforcement agencies received 20 requests 2024, and 33 in 2023, according to state data.

Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].

A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE.