Fact Check: Real Letter Calls for Tracking and Rounding Up 'Brown Folks.' Here's What it Says

Grace Deng
·5 min read
Lincoln County Sheriff Curtis Landers
Lincoln County Sheriff Curtis Landers

Claim:

A letter called "The Brown Round-Up Part 1" urging people to track and report "brown folks" they suspect are undocumented is authentic and was being distributed in an Oregon county.

Rating:

Rating: True
Rating: True

Context:

Officials in Lincoln County, Oregon, started receiving copies of the letter in early December 2024 and the sheriff's office condemned its contents. The author, or authors, of the message remains unknown and there is no active investigation into it because sending such a message is protected by the First Amendment. However, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office warned that acting upon the letter's instructions may violate Oregon's legal protections for immigrants.

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In late December 2024, a letter called "The Brown Round-Up Part 1" was circulating online, purportedly encouraging white people to surveil and report "brown illegals" to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

One X user who shared the document wrote (archived): "This is the full letter being distributed around Lincoln County Oregon."

Snopes readers asked us to verify the authenticity of the message, which also appeared on Facebook (archived).

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News outlets such as The New York Times (archived), The Guardian and The Seattle Times also published reports about the letter.

In short, the document is real and first appeared in Lincoln County, a rural Oregon community. Lincoln County Sheriff Curtis Landers and Rod Cross, mayor of the Lincoln County town of Toledo, both confirmed that the letter was sent to them. Therefore, we have rated this claim as true.

'The Brown Round-Up' Letter

Landers said via email that he received the letter in his "personal post office box" in mid-December 2024. The sheriff added that, as far as he knows, it has circulated only in Lincoln County. Cross also said via email that he received a copy in his mailbox in the early morning of Dec. 8, 2024. The author or authors of the communication remain unknown.

Landers and Cross both provided Snopes with copies of the document they received, which matches the letter Snopes readers sent us and the one circulating online that can be seen below.

Starting the last part of January of 2025, this nation will commence the largest round-up of brown illegals in our history. How can you help? Start identifying those folks who you suspect are here in our country on an illegal basis. Church, sit in your church's parking lot and write down the license plates # of the brown folks. This is extremely important if you attend a catholic church—many brown folks are catholics!! Shopping, again if you see a bunch of brown folks getting in a car— write down the plate #. Schools, as you wait in line to pick up the kiddos or the grandkiddos— if you see brown folks— record the plate # Your neighborhood-you know where the brown folks live in your neighborhood-again record the plate #s If you see a construction crew and/or a landscaping crew who have brown folks -write down the name of the company and a phone # We have received information brown folks, who are currently in Idaho and Montana, are planning to move to our state— because they believe it will be

(Lincoln County Sheriff Curtis Landers)

The sheriff's office has not received complaints from residents regarding the letter, and Cross said he has not heard of any residents receiving the message, so it is unclear how widely it has circulated within Lincoln County. However, other elected officials received the note, Cross and Landers said, including Lincoln City Mayor Susan Wahlke. Snopes reached out to Wahlke and will update this story if she responds.

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While Landers said his office notified the FBI of the letter's existence for awareness, there is no open investigation into the document's origins because sending it is covered by the First Amendment's freedom of speech protections.

Oregon's Legal Protections for Immigrants

Some Snopes readers asked us whether the "round-up" is actually happening.

As we have previously reported, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump did promise to begin "the largest domestic deportation operation in American history" of "illegal alien migrants." However, Landers said his office had not received any reports or complaints of white residents reporting or surveilling nonwhite residents.

It is also worth noting that while the letter itself is protected speech, actually acting on what the message calls for may be against Oregon law. In a statement condemning the letter, Landers called it "harmful, divisive, and inconsistent with the values we uphold as public servants." The statement from the sheriff's office also notes its commitment to following Oregon law, which protects immigrants from activities like those called for in the note:

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We strongly advise against engaging in activities such as those outlined in this letter, including collecting or sharing information about individuals based on their demographic or perceived immigration status. In addition to valuing diversity and equity, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office is committed to upholding Oregon law with regard to immigration enforcement. Oregon law generally prohibits the inquiry or collection of an individual's immigration or citizenship status, or country of birth, with few specific exceptions as outlined in Oregon Revised Statute 181A.823. Consistent with this, the Sheriff's Office does not inquire about, document, or share such information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These provisions are embedded in our policy manual and are essential to ensuring that our practices respect the rights and dignity of all individuals.

According to Oregon's Department of Justice, the state was the first in the U.S. to pass a sanctuary law preventing local police and government from helping federal authorities with immigration enforcement. In 2021, the state strengthened its sanctuary laws and established a statewide hotline to report possible sanctuary law violations. The state also provides a "Community Toolkit" to help immigrants understand their rights. The tool kit notes that while Oregon's laws prevent local authorities from helping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement without an order signed by a judge, the laws do not stop deportations or federal prosecutions as federal immigration authorities can still operate in Oregon.

The letter's contents also were condemned by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum. Likewise, the FBI said in a statement through Flash Alert, which distributes news releases from government agencies and law enforcement across the country, that it is "aware of the offensive and racist mailings sent to individuals and organizations in Lincoln County, Oregon," and advised community members who feel physically threatened to "report those concerns to their nearest local law enforcement agency."

Sources:

"AG Rosenblum: Hateful Letter-Writing Campaign Has No Place Anywhere in Oregon - Oregon Department of Justice." Oregon Department of Justice, 21 Dec. 2024, www.doj.state.or.us/media-home/news-media-releases/ag-rosenblum-hateful-letter-writing-campaign-has-no-place-anywhere-in-oregon/. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.

"FBI - Oregon News via Flashalert.net." Flashalert.net, 20 Dec. 2024, flashalert.net/id/FBIOregon. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.

Landers, Curtis. "Lincoln County Sheriff's Office - Oregon." Facebook.com, 19 Dec. 2024, www.facebook.com/lincolncountysheriff/posts/pfbid0AAgMT4jwkpx6ZHUY5yUH6NrABGsBiitz2BhoobSRRw4REkuaDquyTttUouMaLqSPl. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.

"Sanctuary Promise." Oregon Department of Justice, www.doj.state.or.us/oregon-department-of-justice/civil-rights/sanctuary-promise/. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.

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