Delfina Andrade, Beaverton
“When the incident with my employer happened, I already did not feel safe to report it to law enforcement. When I was convinced to go, I only felt worse. They treated me poorly because I am Latina and an immigrant, and did not take my case seriously although I was the victim of a crime. We need a place that community members can go to report these incidents that is independent, so we can feel safe to report profiling and unfair treatment, instead of having to go to the same place where it happened to you. ”
Delfina Andrade is originally from Mexico but has resided in Beaverton for the last five years. After experiencing sexual assault from her employer she went to report it to the sheriff's department. When she explained what had happened they began to question about whether or not she had a driver's license and her immigration status. They then added, "are you sure that you want to make a complaint because you may not get anymore housekeeping jobs and it is obvious that you need the money." She insisted that they take the report but when she finally got a copy saw that her account of the sexual assault had not been entered into the record. With the support of an advocate she wrote a letter to the sheriff to let him know what happened. After the letter was submitted they met with a deputy sheriff and had to return to the same building where she was treated so badly. He apologized, but nothing else happened. It is unknown if there were any repercussions against the two officers or if anything would change in the future.
Linda Ramon, Portland
“The stress, intimidation and emotional harm profiling may cause is a problem we can collectively work to remedy by taking a first step to support HB 2002. ”
Linda Roman’s mother was profiled when the police questioned the validity of her driver's license. The police explained to her that it is a common practice for people to share their driver’s license with a family member. In her mother’s broken English she explained that this was in fact her driver’s license. The comment that the police officer made would be very different if she were not a Latina immigrant and would not be the same if the interaction was not based on the suspicion about her mother’s immigration status.
Kimberley Dixon, Portland
“I came down to see a man of color in a red hat sitting in his vehicle and three officers outside of the car. I could tell that he had been asked to be searched as he got out of the car and was then patted down. His body language spoke of being inconvenienced. When they did complete the search, officers seemed to verbally engage with the citizen who was then free to go. I have eight sons of which my younger three, especially my newest driver, we regularly go over what they need to do when they are stopped by the police. ”
Kimberely Dixon's first profiling story goes back to the 90’s when her brother was stopped and patted down after walking less than 100 feet outside their family home. More recently, she saw officers patting down a young man of color.