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Our View: 'Sanctuary' law less than it appears Thursday Mar 30, 2017 at 12:01 AM Attorney General Jeff Sessions' warning on Monday that federal grants might be withheld from so-called "sanctuary cities" is of particular interest in Oregon, but the way the state's sanctuary law is written and observed should shield Oregon from any adverse consequences. Sessions was making good on President Donald Trump's threat earlier this year to retaliate against states and localities seen as refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Some local governments may in fact be actively resisting immigration enforcement actions and withholding information from federal authorities. That would stand in opposition to the federal government's position, including the Obama administration's, that local jurisdictions should cooperate with federal immigration actions. Oregon's approach is more nuanced. A state law enacted in 1987 says state and local law enforcement may not use state resources to actively search for and arrest people who are undocumented. It does not prevent them from arresting anyone suspected of criminal activity. A federal judge ruled in 2014 that the Clackamas County Sheriff's Department violated a woman's constitutional rights by keeping her in custody at the request of federal immigration authorities after she was otherwise eligible for release. If state or local law enforcement agencies are asked for information regarding a person in custody, they provide it. The only thing they won't do is hold someone without a criminal charge or a federal warrant, because a federal court has told them they can't. That may be frustrating for immigration authorities, but it's a far cry from open defiance, which is how sanctuary laws are frequently characterized by immigration hard-liners. If federal immigration agents want someone detained, all they have to do is obtain a warrant. Gov. Kate Brown last month issued an executive order broadening the state's sanctuary rule to include all state agencies, and expressly barring any agency from using public resources to create a religious registry. But Brown's order also specifically says no state employee shall break state or federal law to comply with her order. In other words, when federal law requires them to cooperate with immigration authorities, Oregon officials will do so. It's hard to see how that gives the Trump administration grounds to withhold federal grants.