Salem Reporter’s coverage this week of an immigration arrest in east Salem prompted many questions from readers.

It was the first reported incident of a person in Salem being injured during an immigration arrest, which is why we felt it was important to cover as soon as we could verify basic details.

I want to explain more about how and why we cover these incidents. Immigration policy has been one of the major shifts of the Trump administration — with an increase in arrests and deportations, more frequent public arrests and more aggressive tactics, with federal agents routinely breaking vehicle windows and chasing cars through city streets.

Salem Reporter doesn’t cover every arrest, but we monitor what’s happening and aim to cover high-profile incidents. Our goal is always the same: to keep our community informed about what’s happening with as much context as we’re able to provide.

First, a bit of background.

Immigration matters are typically civil, not criminal. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement takes people into custody typically to determine if someone is in the country without legal authorization or otherwise deportable, and to begin deportation proceedings.

While criminal convictions or charges can play into a decision to deport someone, an ICE administrative arrest is done on the basis of suspected immigration status.

Because the process is civil, there’s far less information publicly available about immigration actions.

If our reporters want to see who was charged with a crime in Marion County, we can pull up the circuit court docket and see a list of names with corresponding charges. If we want to see who’s in the county jail, a roster listing everybody and their booking date is available on the county website.

There’s no parallel public system for immigration arrests, and locating information typically requires already knowing a name to search for. 

That also means we don’t know the immigration status of people ICE is arresting – and immigration status is more complicated than “legal” and “not.” 

They may have come to the U.S. illegally (a crime), overstayed a visa, (a civil violation, but not a crime), or had a legal status that the federal government revoked. They may be a visa holder or green card recipient. They may be someone in the midst of immigration proceedings to determine asylum status or renew a visa. They may be an immigrant brought to the U.S. illegally as a child who’s received a work permit, but has no permanent legal status.

ICE and the Department of Homeland Security in general do not respond to questions from Salem Reporter and other media outlets about their operations. When they do, they typically give a brief statement that doesn’t identify people arrested or answer specific questions about the basis for their arrests. They selectively share details about some cases with the public, often via social media or via a recently-launched website highlighting immigrants with criminal records — a minority of those arrested in Oregon.

All that means is: we typically have to rely on witnesses, advocacy groups, family members and local public safety agencies for information about immigration arrests.

This is why our reports often don’t include the names of people arrested or the basis for their arrest. We work hard to learn those details, but often we don’t know. When that’s the case, we tell readers why we’re unable to give them a full picture.

Advocacy groups like the Oregon for All coalition typically share details about arrests that coalition members observe, but they generally won’t share the names of people arrested to protect their privacy. Sometimes, as in Sunday’s case, we learn a person’s name because relatives choose to go public. 

On Sunday, reporter Madeleine Moore learned of the arrest and reported injury through Oregon for All, a coalition of advocacy groups that are responding to immigration arrests. She spoke with a woman who responded to the arrest on Sunday, and the group’s spokesperson. Their accounts lined up with videos circulating widely on social media showing what appeared to be federal agents loading a man into the back of a car in the Mega Foods parking lot.

But Moore also worked to confirm details of the incident with outside agencies. The Salem Fire Department confirmed medics responded to the scene at the time advocates described, and the Salem Police Department confirmed Salem Health had alerted them to the situation.

We also immediately sought information from Salem Health and federal agencies.

Salem Health officials addressed hospital policy in general terms the following day. They later confirmed ICE agents accompanied a man into the hospital.

ICE and DHS officials didn’t respond on Sunday or to multiple emails sent Monday, which included more specific questions after we learned more about the incident.

I emailed them again this morning asking about the basis for Albino Mora Navarro’s arrest, his immigration status and how he was injured. If we hear back, we’ll let you know.

Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.

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