Committee hears wide support for $6 million grants to help immigrants secure legal status

Senate Bill 703, the Pathways to Protection and Citizenship Act, received broad public support at a March 19 hearing of the Senate Committee on Judiciary. The bill would direct the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) to distribute grants to nonprofit service providers to assist eligible noncitizens in paying for immigration legal services and would appropriate $6,000,000 from the state general fund.

Senator Lisa Reynolds, sponsor of the bill, told the committee the measure builds on bipartisan work in recent sessions and is intended to help immigrants who meet federal eligibility but cannot afford legal fees, allowing them to obtain lawful permanent residency or other status changes.

"This bill gives me enormous hope," Senator Reynolds said, calling the measure an "upstream solution to immigration legal assistance." Witnesses who testified in support included a wide cross-section of religious organizations, immigrant-service providers, labor unions, farming interests and civil-rights groups. Frank So, executive director of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, said the bill "will save and strengthen Oregon families" and that more than 25,000 undocumented Oregonians are eligible for some form of legal status. Connie Masuoka of the Japanese American Museum of Oregon submitted a joint letter from several community organizations citing historical barriers and endorsing the bill.

DHS staff described existing refugee-focused legal services and recent one-time federal funds that expanded services for Afghan and Ukrainian arrivals; Amra Biberich, State Refugee Coordinator, said federal funding for such services is limited and that state investments had produced a 99 percent success rate for adjudicated cases. Catholic Community Services of Lane County said it provided immigration legal services to more than 500 individuals last year and that state funding allowed program expansion, while local farm and employer groups testified that reliable legal status helps stabilize the workforce.

Supporters emphasized both moral and fiscal arguments, saying that successful status changes reduce reliance on state-funded safety-net programs because individuals become eligible for federal benefits. Several witnesses urged privacy protections to prevent DHS from collecting unnecessary immigration-status information.

Opposition testimony was not recorded in the March 19 hearing. The committee closed the public hearing and accepted written submissions through Friday at 3 p.m.; no committee vote on SB 703 was taken at that meeting.

If enacted, SB 703 would require DHS to establish eligibility tiers and reporting requirements for nonprofits that receive grants, and it would authorize DHS to adopt implementing rules.