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By Julia Shumway | Editor

For most of the past two decades, driving a commercial truck has been a popular career path for new immigrants in Oregon. It’s a way to make a good wage without a college degree, drivers don’t need to be fully fluent in English and they can start soon after completing training. But after a handful of high-profile fatal crashes involving drivers without permanent legal residency — including one in which a truck driver who entered the country illegally blocked both lanes of U.S. Highway 20 in Central Oregon, killing newlyweds Jennifer Lower and William Carter — and amid a broader crackdown on immigrants, the federal government ordered states to stop issuing commercial licenses to people who aren’t citizens or green card holders.

Also in today's edition:

  • More conservation, less cutting for Oregon’s western state forests

  • Audit faults Department of Corrections for maintenance backlog, old tech

  • States sue over wind farm rules

News tips, feedback or questions? Email us at [email protected]

How Trump closed a key career path for Oregon immigrants and refugees

How Trump closed a key career path for Oregon immigrants and refugees

by Mia Maldonado

Abdul Saboor Hassan moved to Oregon in 2020 after qualifying for a green card for his service to the U.S. Army in his home country, Afghanistan. He became a commercial truck driver for a short period of time before becoming a commercial driving instructor, an experience that motivated him to open his own commercial driving school in Portland in 2024. 

Oregon’s western state forests will see more conservation, less clear cutting under new plan

Oregon’s western state forests will see more conservation, less clear cutting under new plan

by Alex Baumhardt

Oregon forestry officials will need to manage hundreds of thousands of acres of western state forests to better support critical species, water and air quality and to decrease greenhouse gas emissions under a new management plan the Board of Forestry approved Wednesday.

Audit finds old tech, maintenance backlogs, staffing shortages plague Oregon prisons

Audit finds old tech, maintenance backlogs, staffing shortages plague Oregon prisons

by Shaanth Nanguneri

Oregon’s prison system faces a nearly $900 million backlog in maintenance operations, lacks adequate personnel and uses old technological systems that could harm efforts at public safety, according to a new state audit.

State AGs join legal fight against Trump’s wind farm freeze

by Alex Brown

A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general has joined a lawsuit seeking to end the Trump administration’s halt of onshore wind projects in the United States.

FROM OUR D.C. BUREAU

US Senate Dems press Mullin to ensure all immigration agents have body cameras | Ariana Figueroa

MORE FROM THE CAPITAL CHRONICLE

These lending programs are helping underserved Oregonians buy homes | Mia Maldonado

Following data center boom, Oregon for first time considers charging use fees for undersea cables | Alex Baumhardt

OTHER OREGON NEWS Some stories may be behind paywalls.

Storm blows into Sisters, some residents evacuate | The Bulletin

Portland City Council Passes Ordinance to Preserve 30 Jobs and Reverse Some Public Safety Cuts Across the City | Willamette Week

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