Civil Rights

Five members of Oregon's congressional delegation are calling on the U.S. Marshals Service to disclose information about airplanes surveilling protesters in Portland and potentially mining their cellphone data.

U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer and Kurt Schrader signed onto a June 24 letter demanding the Marshals Service disclose information about an airplane that circled above Portland over 30 times on June 13 as thousands of protesters marched on the streets below.

The Supreme Court on Thursday, June 18, rejected the Trump White House's effort to end legal protections for 650,000 young immigrants via the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.

Oregon's U.S. senators, both Democrats, called on the Republican majority to allow a vote on legislation to give permanent status to thousands of young immigrants brought to this country illegally as children.

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat from Beaverton who sits in the 1st District seat, said this in a statement:

Lawmakers are frustrated that they can't bring their fight over the killing of George Floyd to Congress right now. So they're taking to the streets.

With the House scattered across the country because of the coronavirus pandemic, dozens of Democrats — including Speaker Nancy Pelosi — are joining throngs of protesters in major cities across the U.S. to march, kneel and declare that they will use their power to demand change in Washington.