PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland’s mayor has publicly demanded that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) withdraw from the city following a chaotic weekend in which federal agents deployed tear gas, pepper balls and rubber bullets against demonstrators outside a local ICE facility. The incident has intensified already widespread national protests over federal immigration enforcement tactics.
On Saturday, a large daytime rally near the South Waterfront ICE office — described by city officials and participants as peaceful — drew hundreds of people opposing what critics call aggressive federal immigration operations. According to witnesses and emergency responders, agents’ use of chemical munitions forced families with small children and other attendees to retreat amid clouds of gas.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson sharply criticized the federal response. In a statement, he said the protest “was peaceful, where the vast majority of those present violated no laws, made no threat, and posed no danger to federal forces.” He then turned his attack on ICE itself: “To those who continue to work for ICE: Resign. To those who control this facility: Leave. Through your use of violence and the trampling of the Constitution, you have lost all legitimacy and replaced it with shame. … Ask yourselves why you have gassed children.”
City police monitored the demonstration and paramedics treated several people affected by the gas, but no arrests were reported, authorities said.
The mayor also announced that Portland will begin enforcing a newly enacted ordinance imposing fees on detention facilities that use chemical agents. Wilson added that the city is documenting and preserving evidence of the federal tactics, which he called unconstitutional and unacceptable.
The clash in Portland occurred against a backdrop of national unrest tied to the federal government’s immigration enforcement. Protests have spread across U.S. cities, in part driven by outrage over two recent fatal shootings of civilians by federal agents during immigration operations in Minneapolis. Those deaths — of Alex Pretti and Renee Good — have sparked sustained demonstrations demanding accountability and reform.
President Donald Trump responded to broader protest activity by saying federal authorities would generally refrain from intervening in protests in cities unless local officials request assistance, though he reiterated directives for ICE and Border Patrol to protect federal property forcefully.
Civil liberties advocates and local leaders have denounced federal tactics used at recent demonstrations, calling them disproportionate and harmful to community trust. Portland’s call for ICE to leave follows similar pressures in other jurisdictions, where local officials have challenged federal presence and sought greater oversight of immigration enforcement.
