Oregon Must Not Comply with Trump’s Surveillance State

I’m writing to you as a deeply concerned Oregonian. As Donald Trump accelerates his authoritarian push to consolidate vast amounts of personal data under the control of federal agencies — aided by private surveillance contractors like Palantir — we need strong state leadership to resist. And that resistance must start now. Trump’s executive order directing federal agencies to merge databases is not about “government efficiency.” It is a thinly veiled blueprint for building a centralized surveillance state — one that fuses data on Americans’ financial records, health claims, Social Security, immigration history, tax filings, and potentially even social media behavior. This is Orwell’s Thought Police made real, and it’s being rolled out right now under the radar. Palantir, a company with deep ties to Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, has embedded itself in multiple federal agencies and is now reportedly in talks with the Social Security Administration and Department of Education — both of which touch the lives of millions of Oregonians. We do not know the full extent to which this federal data grab depends on state-level cooperation — but we do know that resisting participation is one of the most powerful ways to slow it down and protect the people of Oregon. I urge you to take immediate steps to: • Refuse to share any Oregon-managed data with federal agencies participating in this consolidation effort. • Direct state agencies — including the Oregon Department of Education and Oregon Health Authority — to review all federal data-sharing agreements for compliance with state privacy protections. • Publicly commit that Oregon will not assist in building, feeding, or legitimizing this surveillance system. • Join with other governors in opposing the federal government’s misuse of sensitive data for political or authoritarian ends. As the federal government moves toward authoritarianism, the states must become the last line of defense. If Trump is building a digital dictatorship, Oregon must not be part of it — not even by silence or default. Governor, your voice matters. Your actions matter. The people of Oregon are counting on you to keep this state a firewall against fascism.