Armed federal officers surround Portland ICE facility to contain immigration protest
Armed federal officers surround Portland ICE facility to contain ongoing immigration protest
By JESSICA SCHLADEBECK
JUN 28, 2018 | 11:30 AM
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A man is arrested by police in riot gear as authorities move in on a nearby protester camp occupying the entrance to an ICE facility in Portland, Ore. (KOMO)
Dozens of federal officers descended on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in southwest Portland, arresting a least one demonstrator at gunpoint in their efforts to contain a days-long protest aimed at abolishing ICE.
Photos taken at the scene show Department of Homeland Security officers, many of them donning riot gear, surrounding the cardboard campsite that has sprung up near the building on Southwest Macadam Ave. The U.S. Attorney’s Office confirmed in a statement early Thursday that it had “initiated law enforcement action” to reopen the ICE offices around 5:30 a.m.
Eight protesters have been arrested, including one who was taken into custody after he did not comply with officers’ commands, according to KOMO.
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A barricade crosses railroad tracks at a protest camp on outside the ICE office in Portland, Ore. (Don Ryan / AP)
People first began camping out and demonstrating at the facility earlier this month, when it was revealed the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy resulted in the separation of families coming in at the U.S.-Mexico border. It spawned into the “Occupy ICE PDX” movement, aimed at abolishing the government agency, and is now in its second week of protest.
ICE suspended operations on June 20 as more demonstrators set up tents and signs near the building, promising to open again “once there are no longer security concerns resulting from the ongoing protests there.”
Members of the protest said abolishing ICE is among their goals, so they dubbed the Portland facility’s closure last week a victory, according to KATU. But a team of Department of Homeland Security officers from ICE and Federal Protective Services early Monday secured the building from the inside and began handing out vacate notices to those gathered outside.
“We will put our bodies on the line,” organizer Jacob Bureros told the news station in response. “If they take one body away, another body will stand its place. If they tear this camp down, this camp will come back tomorrow.”
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Pieces of the camp were piled in the street Thursday morning, with officers loading the pieces into a U-Haul truck, according to The Oregonian. Still many tents remained, with dozens of protesters milling about the makeshift camp while several officers standing atop of the ICE building looked on.
Federal authorities said they are only working to clear out those who are on federal property and will not arrest those protesting nearby.
“It is unlawful to obstruct the entrances, foyers, lobbies, corridors, offices and parking lot of federal facilities,” the state attorney’s office warned Monday — and then again on Tuesday.
“Under these regulations, demonstrators are not permitted to obstruct the driveway or entrance of the ICE facility on SW Macadam Avenue.”
Portland Police previously announced it would not participate in any sweeps of the camp, saying it “is not involved in activity related to the exercise of people’s First Amendment Right to Freedom of Speech and Assembly.”
President Trump earlier this month signed an executive order to stop the separation of families caused by his administration “zero-tolerance” policy. A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that all families must be reunited within 30 days.
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