The Oregon Way: Making Waves on the Coast

Last month after reports surfaced that the Trump administration had moved the U.S. Coast Guard search-and-rescue helicopter out of Newport and also explored siting a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in town, I demanded the Coast Guard provide answers at a local meeting before my annual Lincoln County town hall.

What I heard and saw during my 37th open-to-all town hall this year and 1138th overall

was the very root of the “Oregon Way.” And I’m glad to team up with this community to make waves against the Trump administration’s unilateral schemes, which were landing so hard on this Oregon Coast town.

Oregonians from all over the county came together to share their thoughts and opinions on hard topics that affected their community. We heard from a 14 year-old girl whose hard-working father was ripped away by ICE. Local fishermen came to share how the difference between life or death in emergencies on the sea comes down to minutes, and how moving the Coast Guard helicopter 90 miles south would cost lives by extending response times well past the point when hypothermia would set in.

I have been fighting to keep this life-saving helicopter in Newport since 2014 when the Coast Guard threatened to close its air facility. I have secured the funding to save the helicopter every year, and I put in place a process that the Coast Guard must go through to close any air facilities across the country. This relocation of a lifesaving resource ran right over the bipartisan process I helped to establish.

So in early November, I led the Oregon congressional delegation in demanding the Department of Homeland Security and Coast Guard answer why they moved the helicopter away from Newport. When those agencies didn’t respond, I insisted they send a representative to speak with the community before my Lincoln County town hall. Along with me were the Newport Fishermen’s Wives and local officials justifiably concerned that moving the helicopter would endanger the safety of fishermen who risk their lives at sea to make a living.

I am heartened by a recent court decision to reverse Trump’s order and bring the Coast Guard helicopter back, and my conversation with the Coast Guard last week where they committed to keep the helicopter in Newport and follow my 2018 law, but Newport and the Central Oregon Coast deserve far better than the secrecy and silence they’ve gotten so far from the Trump administration.

This same lack of transparency has dogged the most recent efforts by the Trump administration to quietly create a new ICE facility in Newport.

I am proud to stand with the community to support immigrant families who are being torn apart by ruthless enforcement actions, and I will continue to pull all possible levers of the federal government to spotlight this administration’s relentless overreach. That is why I have introduced the VISIBLE Act to prohibit immigration enforcement officers from concealing their identity during enforcement actions in public. I have also repeatedly questioned the Department of Homeland Security about obstruction of congressional access to detention facilities.

Oregonians in Newport came together and used their voices to demand accountability and change from the Trump administration. They have debated these issues back and forth in the public square demonstrating the value of the Oregon Way where we make sure all opinions can be heard equally.

As we get ready for 2026, I can report that this community action and collective problem solving is in keeping with what I saw all over the state this year.

From Portland to Port Orford, Oregonians stood up, showed up and spoke out.

I have kept my promise to hold open-to-all town hall meetings in each of Oregon’s 36 counties every year because these gatherings remain key to solving challenges. Whether that is making everyday costs more affordable, ensuring everyone has access to life-saving health care or keeping essential hunger programs like SNAP running, these issues don’t discriminate on the basis of political party and require the input of everyone involved to make lasting progress.

I am relying on Oregonians like those in Newport who took the time on a Sunday afternoon to tell me what they need from their federal officials. I am already looking forward to next year’s town halls, and I am continually honored to be able to represent Oregon in the U.S. Senate.