Portland stands against ICE surge

Portland, OR – On Tuesday, October 13, organizers with Portland Contra Las Deportaciones (PDXCD) rallied to oppose the recent surge of ICE detentions in the Portland area and demand justice for Oscar Bergal, shot by ICE in New York just days prior.

Bergal is one of 39 or more people shot by immigration agents during the second Trump administration, including Portlanders Luis David Nino-Moncado and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, who Customs and Border Patrol targeted and shot in January of 2026.

Just this week, between October 6 and 10, 48 ICE detainments in Oregon were reported to a hotline, meaning the actual number of detainments is much higher. This is more than double the average number of detentions per week in the prior months.

This comes after a DHS announcement of a surge of ICE activity in sanctuary cities like Portland.

PDXCD speaker Cass Cano spoke at the anti-ICE rally: “Immigration status should not be a death sentence. Our people are under attack, and we will not back down. We have to stand up to Trump and keep fighting ICE until we have won legalization for all, an end to the deportations, and ICE out of everywhere.”

Protesters chanted “ICE out of Portland!” “Killer ICE off our streets!” and “Revoke the permit!” to demand that local officials take action to shut down the detention facility in Portland, which is a key instrument of ICE’s operations in the area.

Despite the growing support for the campaign to revoke the permit, Portland city councilors and some “progressive” forces argue that the facility, leased to ICE by wealthy landowner Stuart Lindquist, should remain open so when immigrants are detained for processing, lawyers can get in contact before they are moved to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.

However, a recent congressional oversight visit to the Portland ICE facility revealed immigration agents are no longer using the facility for processing. Instead, they are deploying all agents to the field to grab people off the streets and sending them straight to the Northwest Detention Center by “processing” detainees in the field.

These findings, along with the recent upsurge in abductions, negate the crumbling assertion that the Portland detention camp benefits immigrants by providing detainees an opportunity for legal intervention prior to transfer – a long-empty argument that city officials continue to hide behind.

Cami Saunders of PDXCD noted the contradiction in the “progressive” rhetoric against revoking the permit, stating, “We don’t want or need a concentration camp in Portland, and it’s time for our elected officials to stop pretending like we do. What we actually need is for our legislators to stop siding with Trump and protecting ICE.”

The embattled ICE facility heads back to court November 20, as landlord Stuart Lindquist challenges a land use violation for holding detainees over a 12-hour limit in court. PDXCD is calling on Judge Steffan Alexander to strike down the case.

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