Oregon's top federal prosecutor targets sanctuary policies in press releases, offers no data linking immigrants to crime

Oregon's U.S. Attorney Scott Bradford has changed how his office publicizes cases involving immigrants without legal status, labeling them by nationality in press releases — a format he does not apply to citizens, who are identified by city of residence.

Bradford told the Oregon Capital Chronicle he made the change to raise alarm over Oregon's sanctuary policies, which bar jails from holding people for immigration authorities without a court order. He said specific cases where someone who should have been deported went on to victimize Oregonians make further evidence unnecessary. Neither he nor the White House has offered statistical data showing immigrants are more likely to commit or re-offend.

More than 40 Oregon-based Justice Department staff have left since 2025, part of a nationwide exodus of career prosecutors.

Bradford said his office's priorities have not changed under the Trump administration. His office has charged more than three dozen of the thousands of protesters outside Portland's ICE facility, and recently reduced felony charges to a misdemeanor for a clarinet player accused of kicking and biting a federal officer there.