For nearly a decade, Hillsboro’s identity as a “Sanctuary City” existed largely on paper as a statement of values. Adopted in 2017, Resolution 2552 was a promise to the community that the city stood for inclusion and dignity.
But a promise is not a law.
When a surge of federal immigration enforcement swept through Washington County in late 2025—sparking fear in neighborhoods, schools, and local businesses—a harsh reality set in at City Hall. When federal agents showed up, frontline city workers had no enforceable municipal code telling them what to do, what to share, or how to legally protect the community without putting themselves in the crosshairs of federal law.
On Tuesday night, that finally changed. In a unanimous vote, the Hillsboro City Council passed Ordinance 6513, officially moving the city’s sanctuary status out of the realm of symbolic resolutions and bolting it directly into the Hillsboro Municipal Code.
Hillsboro City Councilor Kipperlyn Sinclair, Left Center, brought forward her plan to codify the City of Hillsboro’s Sanctuary City status into our codes. After months anf the help of some friends, the City has passed a meaningful Ordinance.
Building the Framework from the Ground Up
The road to codification was fraught with legal, administrative, and political hurdles. For months, Councilor Kipperlyn Sinclairappeared to be standing on an island at times, pushing for legally binding protections while facing heavy resistance over municipal liability and jurisdictional limits from Mayor Beach Pace and her panel of Councilors, whom she swept City Hall with. Resistance was fierce, and the Herald covered this nuanced but super powerful code that has wide-reaching ramifications- good one – for the people of Hillsboro. Story link below-
Sinclair credits her fellow councilors, Cristian Salgado and Olivia Alcaire, for their full support as discussions moved ahead over a few weeks. Both of them were fighting for their own initiatives to move the City forward on Human and Civil rights, as well as supporting Hillsboro’s trusted Community-Based organizations, but behind the scenes, a broader regional strategy was taking shape to ensure the policy had the structural integrity it needed to survive.
“Together [with Beaverton City Councilor Nadia Hasan], we met with Portland legislators to learn from their efforts to codify local jurisdiction,” Councilor Sinclair explained.
The turning point for localized action came when they realized that relying on county-wide systems wouldn’t offer the immediate protections Hillsboro needed. “Using that guidance and framework, we each developed and submitted individual proposals,” Sinclair noted. “Through further discussions with the Washington County Consolidated Communications Agency (WCCCA), we learned that policy responses to ICE activity must be developed at the city level.”
City Councilor Kipperlyn Sinclair Hillsboro, Oregon
Community Reinforcements and the Final Compromise
Sinclair’s initial November proposal was aggressive, meeting intense resistance from legal counsel, city staff, and police who warned it would expose the city to massive liability.
But as the negotiations wore on, Sinclair’s isolated push gained crucial community reinforcements.
“After numerous meetings with staff and city attorneys, we later met with Barry Johnson Smith and Blayne Solaymone-Pearson, who submitted an additional proposal,” Sinclair said.
This collective, grassroots effort ultimately broke the deadlock. By stripping away the administrative bloat of the early drafts and incorporating the community’s demand for concrete boundaries, the final ordinance emerged as a legally defensible masterpiece of municipal compromise.
“Ultimately, these efforts led to codifying the Oregon Sanctuary Promise Act into Hillsboro’s municipal code through Ordinance No. 6513,” Sinclair stated, “establishing a reporting framework that requires city departments to document ICE activity as a community-facing transparency measure.”
Nadia Hasan – Beaverton City Councilor
What Ordinance 6513 Actually Does
The new law fundamentally changes how the City of Hillsboro operates on a daily basis by establishing strict legal boundaries and ensuring transparency:
The “Judicial Warrants Only” Rule:If federal immigration authorities approach city staff with anything less than a compulsory, court-issued judicial subpoena, city staff are now legally required by municipal code to decline the request.
Drawing the Line in City Buildings:The ordinance explicitly defines “City Facilities” and mandates signage designating “authorized personnel only” areas, thereby legally barring federal agents from entering back offices or non-public zones without a warrant.
Mandatory Tracking and Public Transparency:As Sinclair highlighted, the ordinance establishes a strict reporting structure requiring city departments to document any ICE activity and provide public transparency.
Procedural Safeguards:To ensure these protections cannot be easily dismantled behind closed doors, the new law creates stronger procedural safeguards, requiring public notice and a recorded vote for any future amendments.
By pushing the heaviest administrative tasks into internal city policy and focusing the municipal code entirely on clear legal boundaries, Hillsboro finally closed the gap between its values and its laws.
Frontline workers no longer have to make high-stakes legal judgment calls on the fly. The law now makes the decision for them: No judicial warrant, no access.
What Does Ordinance 6513 Actually Change?
When a city moves a policy from a “resolution” to a “municipal code,” it shifts from a symbolic promise to a binding law. But what does that actually look like for Hillsboro residents? Here are three real-world examples of how Ordinance 6513 changes daily operations:
The Library or SHARC Scenario
The Old Way: If federal immigration agents walked into the Shute Park Aquatic & Recreation Center (SHARC) and demanded the registration schedule of a specific resident, a young front-desk employee might panic and hand it over, having no local law to guide them.
The New Law: That employee is now legally shielded. The code mandates their response: unless the agents present a court-issued judicial subpoena signed by a judge, city staff are legally prohibited from handing over that information or letting agents into non-public back offices.
The Utility Bill Loophole
The Old Way: ICE could call the City of Hillsboro Water Department looking for a target’s billing address. A city clerk might quietly email it over, unintentionally using local city data to assist a federal raid.
The New Law: This is now strictly illegal under city code. The city cannot use personnel, technology, or data to assist federal immigration enforcement. The clerk must decline the request, log the interaction, and report the federal agency’s attempt to the state.
The Routine Traffic Stop
The Old Way: During a minor traffic collision, an officer without clear guidelines might ask about a driver’s country of birth or hold them longer than necessary just so ICE could arrive.
The New Law: Local police are strictly prohibited from asking about citizenship status unless it is directly tied to a local criminal investigation. The code ensures Hillsboro Police focus entirely on local public safety, rather than acting as an extension of federal immigration enforcement.
Here is Blayne Soleymani-Pearson speaking to the Hillsboro City Council as the ordinance was passed last week. Blayne is currently running for Washington County Commissioner, District 2, and he has an impressive platform and resume.
The irony is rich. Aparently laws have meaningful importance if they align with your sensibilities. As long as a certain well represented demographics feel good about it, then its a step in the right direction, a ‘good’ law, right? I’m sure “learning from the efforts” of Portland legislators is a good way to go here too. After all, look how awesome Portland has handled ICE.
I wish there was representation out here in WASHCO, both civicly and journalisticly, for the those of us who understand the importance of federal law, federal budget support, and ultimately, the safety of our community. ‘Sanctuary’ status really means ‘sanctuary for criminals’ – and I’m not talking ‘crossed the border illegally’ criminals, but ‘arrested for breaking local laws’ criminals – over legal law-abiding citizens.
I would like to agree with you, but I can not. I have seen the atrocities committed by ICE first hand and there are too many arrests of legal residents to even count. Not to mention the shootings and civil rights violations. Add to that refusing to ID themselves, and the cowardly wearing of masks, and the surveilance tactics – there is no defensible position in this regard. Law enforcement is done with prescribed rules to protect citizens, victims, and those accused. The code codification simply means our City has some rules to follow that protect all involved. But your response is a standard talking point for strong supporters from the right and it is your right to have it.
There is some common ground in the ‘standard talking points’ you list, likely with many, who still support border enforcement, federal imigration law, and our federal officers. There are issues (enforcement justified or not) with the way ICE handles some of the aprehensions. I wonder if you can admit that part of the issue with street aprehensions is this ‘Sanctuary’ policy you support. “No defensible position” is a bit willingly obsitnate. “Cowardly mask wearing and surveilance tactics” I am positive are defensible by those officers in the field. It doesn’t take that much of an imagination to posit why. Maybe you do not think that there are cartel linked gangs in the area, maybe you don’t buy that agents should fear being doxed or their families harrassed by activits. Perhaps you think they deserve it for doing their jobs as they are instructed. I hope not. I find that position as reprehensible on the same level you seem to find enforcement.
As far as having seen atrocities, arrests of legal residents, shootings, and civil rights violations – I do not refute that. Can you recognize and acknowledge the continually growing list of victims and attrocities caused by illegal immigrants, many of whom were known criminals, had criminal records in sanctuary cities, or had unenforced orders for removal? Do you think it is safer for violent arrested illegal immigrants be let back into the community where ICE can commit all the atrocities you describe instead of being peacefully transfered in the safety of a public building? That is at the root of the policy, refusal of detainers. Sanctuary for who?
I think you are mixing up what this codification really does. I have stated time and again, any violtent criminal or felon who is captured here, given due process, needs to be jailed and or deported. No issue. But that is not what is happening. In fact there is no proof of any kind that even a decent percentage of who has been taken/disappaered by Immigration agents are criminals at all. None. And they produce no reports, they do not provide information to our local law enforcement either. The community is left to guess, to watch social media, watch those that follow ice, to report on what has happened and who has been taken. ICE can not make a case for the good things they have done because they are not being held accountable to anyone. They will not even answer questions of the highest ranking officials. And if this was really about grabbing criminals they would have emptied out America’s prisons of foreign Nationals who are some of the worst offenders. But to my knowledge that has not happened. Just like all of the other MAGA agenda items, this one sounded good but in reality this was more about spending money so Kash and Noem could become stars and carry out an agenda designed to divide communities, target brown people, and destroy families. Also this agenda has been targeted mostly at blue states and plaxes the President hates – show me red state Cities being targeted like Hillsboro and Minneapolis. You can’t . As far as the masking and doxing- hey pal that comes along with the law enforcement territory. So that earns you no points. ALmost no training, hiring known thugs- let’s face it these are not real law enforcement officers ins terms of their training and professionalism. The masks and lack of badges are used to allow them to violate the law and we all know it. If they are not doing anyting wrong, no problem. I support Hillsboro Police and Washington County – any good officer doing the peoples work I am all behind. That is not what these people are doing. No warrants, no badges, masks, and taking citizens. Nothing you say will refute those facts. If a Hillsboro Police officer took one of my family and hauled them off, stuck them on a plane, and disappeared them, I can sure and the hell tell you that would not stand. So defending bad behavior and the complete viiolation of the rights all residents are guaranteed by the constituion is not a defensible space to stand on. There is no reason this could not have been done differently with proper steps being taken- and they were no and likely will not be. Your defending something and an agency out of control that at this point has no defense. Do it right- or stop doing it. And yes- we have gangs and yes- arrest them all the right way.
“But a promise is not a law”
The irony is rich. Aparently laws have meaningful importance if they align with your sensibilities. As long as a certain well represented demographics feel good about it, then its a step in the right direction, a ‘good’ law, right? I’m sure “learning from the efforts” of Portland legislators is a good way to go here too. After all, look how awesome Portland has handled ICE.
I wish there was representation out here in WASHCO, both civicly and journalisticly, for the those of us who understand the importance of federal law, federal budget support, and ultimately, the safety of our community. ‘Sanctuary’ status really means ‘sanctuary for criminals’ – and I’m not talking ‘crossed the border illegally’ criminals, but ‘arrested for breaking local laws’ criminals – over legal law-abiding citizens.
I would like to agree with you, but I can not. I have seen the atrocities committed by ICE first hand and there are too many arrests of legal residents to even count. Not to mention the shootings and civil rights violations. Add to that refusing to ID themselves, and the cowardly wearing of masks, and the surveilance tactics – there is no defensible position in this regard. Law enforcement is done with prescribed rules to protect citizens, victims, and those accused. The code codification simply means our City has some rules to follow that protect all involved. But your response is a standard talking point for strong supporters from the right and it is your right to have it.
There is some common ground in the ‘standard talking points’ you list, likely with many, who still support border enforcement, federal imigration law, and our federal officers. There are issues (enforcement justified or not) with the way ICE handles some of the aprehensions. I wonder if you can admit that part of the issue with street aprehensions is this ‘Sanctuary’ policy you support. “No defensible position” is a bit willingly obsitnate. “Cowardly mask wearing and surveilance tactics” I am positive are defensible by those officers in the field. It doesn’t take that much of an imagination to posit why. Maybe you do not think that there are cartel linked gangs in the area, maybe you don’t buy that agents should fear being doxed or their families harrassed by activits. Perhaps you think they deserve it for doing their jobs as they are instructed. I hope not. I find that position as reprehensible on the same level you seem to find enforcement.
As far as having seen atrocities, arrests of legal residents, shootings, and civil rights violations – I do not refute that. Can you recognize and acknowledge the continually growing list of victims and attrocities caused by illegal immigrants, many of whom were known criminals, had criminal records in sanctuary cities, or had unenforced orders for removal? Do you think it is safer for violent arrested illegal immigrants be let back into the community where ICE can commit all the atrocities you describe instead of being peacefully transfered in the safety of a public building? That is at the root of the policy, refusal of detainers. Sanctuary for who?
I think you are mixing up what this codification really does. I have stated time and again, any violtent criminal or felon who is captured here, given due process, needs to be jailed and or deported. No issue. But that is not what is happening. In fact there is no proof of any kind that even a decent percentage of who has been taken/disappaered by Immigration agents are criminals at all. None. And they produce no reports, they do not provide information to our local law enforcement either. The community is left to guess, to watch social media, watch those that follow ice, to report on what has happened and who has been taken. ICE can not make a case for the good things they have done because they are not being held accountable to anyone. They will not even answer questions of the highest ranking officials. And if this was really about grabbing criminals they would have emptied out America’s prisons of foreign Nationals who are some of the worst offenders. But to my knowledge that has not happened. Just like all of the other MAGA agenda items, this one sounded good but in reality this was more about spending money so Kash and Noem could become stars and carry out an agenda designed to divide communities, target brown people, and destroy families. Also this agenda has been targeted mostly at blue states and plaxes the President hates – show me red state Cities being targeted like Hillsboro and Minneapolis. You can’t . As far as the masking and doxing- hey pal that comes along with the law enforcement territory. So that earns you no points. ALmost no training, hiring known thugs- let’s face it these are not real law enforcement officers ins terms of their training and professionalism. The masks and lack of badges are used to allow them to violate the law and we all know it. If they are not doing anyting wrong, no problem. I support Hillsboro Police and Washington County – any good officer doing the peoples work I am all behind. That is not what these people are doing. No warrants, no badges, masks, and taking citizens. Nothing you say will refute those facts. If a Hillsboro Police officer took one of my family and hauled them off, stuck them on a plane, and disappeared them, I can sure and the hell tell you that would not stand. So defending bad behavior and the complete viiolation of the rights all residents are guaranteed by the constituion is not a defensible space to stand on. There is no reason this could not have been done differently with proper steps being taken- and they were no and likely will not be. Your defending something and an agency out of control that at this point has no defense. Do it right- or stop doing it. And yes- we have gangs and yes- arrest them all the right way.