Rod Cross and his spouse had been checking their mailbox early in December once they discovered a mysterious letter addressed to him.
The mayor of Toledo opened the letter and commenced to learn – “and I simply stopped proper there,” Cross advised The Oregonian/OregonLive. “I couldn’t imagine it. And the extra I learn the extra sickened and offended I turned.”
The letter, titled “THE BROWN ROUND-UP PART 1,” instructed residents of the Lincoln County group to participate in “the biggest round-up of brown illegals in our historical past” starting close to the top of January 2025 — apparently referring to an anticipated immigration crackdown by the incoming Trump administration.
President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on a plan to deport tens of millions of individuals from the U.S. He can be sworn into workplace on Jan. 20.
“Begin figuring out these of us who you watched are right here in our nation on an unlawful foundation,” the letter to Cross reads. “Shortly after the twenty first of January, Homeland Safety will create a hotline to which you’ll be able to ship your info.”
The letter really useful that folks stake out church buildings and shops and work websites, and “in the event you see brown of us – document the plate #.”
Cross isn’t the one individual to obtain the anonymously-penned letter. He stated three Toledo metropolis council members, in addition to metropolis council members in Coos Bay and North Bend, acquired copies.
Susan Wahlke, mayor of Lincoln Metropolis, about 30 miles from Toledo, advised The Oregonian/OregonLive she additionally acquired the letter in her private mailbox.
Reyna Lopez, government director of the Woodburn-based immigrant-rights advocacy group PCUN, discovered of the letter this week and stated it shocked her.
“Each of my dad and mom immigrated from Mexico in 1985 to do farm work,” she stated. “We’ve been stunned. It’s not been our expertise right here as a household that has come from Mexico and who’ve established roots right here.”
A few of Toledo’s 3,500 inhabitants have stated the letter is an unpleasant reminder of the “Toledo Incident of 1925,” when a bunch of white residents broke into the houses of Japanese, Filipino and Korean immigrants, compelled them into ready vehicles and drove them out of city.
At a Toledo metropolis council assembly on Wednesday, native political leaders mentioned taking an official stand towards the views within the letter, mixed with an acknowledgment of the 1925 incident.
“It comes at a horrible time of remembrance for us,” stated Toledo Metropolis Councilor Tracy Combine, who additionally acquired a duplicate of the letter. “We don’t need to repeat that ever once more.”
The letter references a better-known occasion that passed off in Oregon and different states throughout World Battle II, a technology after the Toledo Incident: the mass internment of Japanese People.
“When the brown of us are rounded up, their properties can be confiscated similar to the properties belonging to the Japanese in California had been throughout World Battle II,” the letter says. “Inside a brief time period, there can be an entire lot of houses in the marketplace for us white of us to buy and with the stock so excessive the costs will (be) very low and inexpensive.”
Combine stated she is aware of folks whose dad and mom had been taken to the Japanese camps within the Forties and misplaced not simply their freedom through the battle but additionally their property and possessions. “These elements of the letter, I imply, it hits very laborious as a result of they lived it,” she stated.
Cross, who has lived in Toledo for 28 years, stated the letter hit near dwelling for him as effectively.
“I’m Native American, and I simply don’t perceive it,” he stated. “It’s not one thing that has ever been a difficulty right here.”
He described Toledo as a politically purple city the place neighbors come collectively to assist one another out, a spot the place folks can disagree with one another’s opinions and nonetheless stay pals.
“We’re not going to do that,” Cross stated, referring to the actions really useful within the letter. “We’re right here to help all of our residents in our city.”
— Tatum Todd is a breaking information reporter who covers public security, crime and group information. Attain them at ttodd@oregonian.com or 503-221-4313.
