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September 16, 2019, Public Hearing – Item 1 <br />On March 13, 2017, council unanimously passed the Protections for Individuals Ordinance (Ordinance 20579). This ordinance provides certain protections for all Eugene residents, including immigrants. This action put provisions of an existing state law into City Code preventing the use of City resources (money, equipment or personnel) to detect or apprehend individuals whose only violation of the law is that they are present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws. Beyond the ordinance, the Mayor’s Ad Hoc Committee had proposed an expansion that would require the City of Eugene be prohibited from collecting individually identifiable information as it relates to 16 categories. These categories include immigration status, race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, housing status, disability, association, activities, organization, corporation, business, partnership or group. In May 2018, to better understand the potential impact of amending the ordinance, the City Manager directed each department within the City to review its existing policies and practices on data collection regarding the 16 categories and report back on a series of questions to equip council with the information needed to make a well-informed decision on potential amendments to Ordinance 20579. In June 2018, this information was presented to the City Council at a work session. The presentation included data gathered from each department. This data was thorough but not fully comprehensive due to time and capacity limitations. From the data provided, staff found that City of Eugene departments are primarily collecting data in three core categories: when information is legally required; in service provision; and, to advance the City’s equity goals. There were two areas in which collection of individually identifiable information was more prevalent: in employment-related process and in program service delivery in which a person’s individual experience (e.g., a person has a disability or is currently unhoused) may qualify them for services. Based on the information collected, immigration status information was only collected in employment-related processes and/or when shared voluntarily. Council requested staff return at a future date to propose codifying language that would limit City of Eugene employees from collecting or maintaining individually identifiable immigration status in certain circumstances. Council also asked the City Manager to put policies in place to address collection and maintenance of individually identifiable immigration status as an interim measure until it could act on potential amendments. In September 2018, the City Manager signed Administrative Order No. 21-18-09 Establishing City Policy Prohibiting Collection and Maintenance of Immigration Status by City Employees Except in Certain Circumstances. This action confirmed a commitment to City of Eugene law enforcement personnel fully implementing the Eugene Code sections 2.495 and 2.497 regarding immigration status information and prohibited City of Eugene employees from collecting or maintaining immigration status information, except when voluntarily provided or required to comply with state or federal law. Upon the adoption of Administrative Order No. 21-18-09, City staff received electronic communications about the order through their Executive Directors. In some cases, especially with City staff who have a high level of community engagement at public events, staff received training on how to properly adhere to the ordinance and administrative order in their daily activities. This