The Hillsboro City Council held another work session this week to advance its comprehensive plan, which supports community members affected by federal immigration enforcement activities. Council members approved more funding to support impacted community members in the areas of housing assistance and small business support and received updates on progress made in several other initiatives.

Council unanimously approved two additional major funding initiatives totaling $450,000 to support vulnerable community members and local businesses. 

The Council unanimously gave staff the approval to finalize a program for $200,000 for eviction prevention and rental assistance to help community members maintain stable housing. The City will partner with trusted community-based organizations to administer the program: 

City staff will meet with these partner organizations in the coming weeks to finalize program eligibility requirements, structure, and timeline. Details on how to access assistance will be shared once the program framework is complete. 

Recognizing the economic impact on local businesses, the Council unanimously gave staff the approval to finalize a program for $250,000 to help preserve jobs and help prevent small business closures: 

Eligible businesses include:

restaurants, mobile food services, food markets, bakeries, grocery stores, and retail stores that are independently owned (not part of chains or franchises). 

The final program details, including maximum award amount, program metrics, application requirements, etc., will be finalized after discussion with CBOs who will be assisting the City in evaluating applications.  

City staff will present options for consideration at the next Council meeting on how to implement sanctuary city protections into Hillsboro's code and policy. The proposal will include research on how other jurisdictions have established similar protections for their communities. 

The Council was presented with a proposal for a new Human Rights Office at the work session and will continue discussions on this topic at a future work session. 

 The Council gave staff the approval to create a Community Advisory Committee that will provide input on the City's immigration enforcement response initiatives. Staff are now drafting a charter that defines the committee's scope and responsibilities. This charter will be reviewed by a planning committee that includes representatives from several community-based organizations (CBOs). Once the charter is finalized, recruitment for CBO members will begin. 

This work session continues the momentum from the Council's previous actions, including the passage of Resolution 2906, an initial $200,000 in funding awards, and the establishment of seven priority areas to support the community.  

Immigration Resources 

For community members, resources for immigration impacts are on the City of Hillsboro website, including: