Last week, city councilors told a packed hearing that they would consider revoking ICE's permit to operate its South Waterfront facility along South Moody Avenue due to alleged violations of a 2011 conditional-use permit, according to local news outlet Willamette Week.
The permit allows detention and administrative use under specific limitations, but politicians have raised concerns that ICE has been holding detainees there for longer than the required 12-hour limit.
Border agents detaining man on ground
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents detain a man outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs building during a protest Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Residents and politicians raised moral concerns too, saying that the facility undermines the city's sanctuary city policy, while residents testified about targeted arrests, gas attacks and intimidation.
"Our values of sanctuary and humanity are under siege," local resident Michelle Dar said. She also said that federal agents' armed actions threatened everyone's safety, not just that of im
Other residents complained that loud bangs and flashbangs were disrupting life for residents of subsidized housing and students of a local school. A handful of people also blamed Antifa
...the armed wing of the Democratic Party...for the ugly scenes outside the facility.
Chaotic scenes have been unfolding outside the facility since June, including in one incident where a large group of anti-ICE protesters tried to block law enforcement vehicles from entering and exiting the facility, forcing agents to deploy rubber bullets, tear gas and flash bangs to disperse the crowd.
Violent agitators have also smashed windows, pelted agents and the facility with rocks and other objects. On Independence Day,
But most residents and politicians' concerns pertained to ICE's alleged violation of its permit terms, particularly related to how long detainees were being held, rather than the violence caused by protesters or agitators.
They urged the council to revoke the permit, citing a local report that ICE had violated the permit more than two dozen times by holding detainees for longer than 12 hours.
"If we allow ICE to continue to operate when they have violated their permits, that means that anything becomes permissible moving forward," City Council Member Angelita Morillo told the community and public safety committee hearing. "And so, for me, that change in information has changed the calculation."
Meanwhile,
...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter wished he had thought to pack sun block...
City Council Member Steve Novick said the council should take a broader moral stand against the federal deportation machine.
"This is an assault on our democracy as a whole— The assault on im
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